Keeping Up the Pace
by FarSideOfTheRoom
Summary: Celia Pace's 4th year at Hogwarts was shaping up to be more interesting than she had expected, with her enormous crush on her brother's friend, the triwizard tournament, and her new friendship with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: All of the characters, with the exception of Celia and Mick, are the creation of the amazing JK Rowling and are Harry Potter characters, or are characters from the amazing TV show LOST.

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Chapter 1:

It's Not Like he's Harry Potter

Celia and Hannah were in their third year. Sirius Black had just been found in the castle, and all the students were in the Great Hall. Dumbledore finished his speech and Celia and Hannah began to chatter excitedly. They grabbed sleeping bags, and started dragging them off to find a place to sleep. They saw Cho and some of her 4th year friends and Celia waved; Cho waved back and led her small band over to them

"Kinda scary, I'nnit?" Cho remarked.

"Yeah, a bit, but its kind of exciting all the same," Celia replied.

The girls compared thoughts on how black might have gotten in, and set up their sleeping bags next to each other, and stayed up chatting until Percy told the hall to go to sleep. Celia said goodnight to Cho, and rolled over to face Hannah so they could discuss more intimate details.

"So you like Justin," Celia said, smiking and flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder.

"Yeah," Hannah bashfully replied.

"So ask him to Hogsmeade!"

"He goes with us already."

"Well, go on a more private trip with him, Susan and Ernie and I will just not go with you guys."

"Well… I don't know," said Hannah hesitantly.

"You can do it," Celia coaxed.

"Well, why don't you ask out—"

"Ssshhhh!"

Celia was quick to hush her friend as a Ravenclaw prefect walked by. When she had passed, Celia began talking again in a harsh whisper.

"We've been over this."

"Well, he's a Hufflepuff, and its not like he's Harry Potter," Hannah said, chuckling a little at her joke.

"You know why I can't do anything. He's older than me, and if Aaron knew I liked one of his friends, he'd flip. Besides, why would he like me?"

"Because you're an amazing person, and you're really pretty."

"I am not," Celia remarked, her distaste in that thought evident.

"You are. I heard Ernie and Dean and Seamus talking in Herbology, and they were talking about the girls in our year, and Seamus said that you were one of the best looking girls in the year," Hannah told her.

"Really?" Celia said, blushing a little at the compliment paid her by Seamus.

"Really! I think he fancies you, Seamus."

"No, that... he doesn't like me," Celia responded, shaking her head.

"You need to gain a little self-confidence. You're pretty, and you need to realize it. But whatever the case may be, guys in our year are attracted to you. Why shouldn't older guys be?"

Celia remained silent, and Hannah persisted.

"And you said that he spent two weeks of this last summer with your family?" Hannah inquired.

"Well, yeah, but—"

Hannah cut across her statement.

"So he's spent loads of time with you!"

"Hannah, that just means he'll see me as his friend's little sister, maybe his friend, but nothing else."

"I still think you should talk to him—you never know. I mean, honestly, if you never talk to—"

She stopped talking immediately when another prefect approached. Celia stared after him for a few minutes with a longing look in her face and only when Cedric Diggory had long since passed by did they resume their conversation.

"Celia!"

Celia was shaken out of her trance-like state where she was recalling a night the previous year by a familiar voice saying her name. She looked from the spot where Cedric Diggory had been standing a moment ago, and turned to see her friend Hannah Abbot standing a few feet away, looking mildly concerned.

"Hannah!" Celia shrieked, and drew her friend into a hug. When they pulled apart, Hannah commented, "Are you alright, Celia? You looked a little out of it."

"Yeah, just thinking."

"Ok, then say good-bye and lets get a seat, you know how hard it is to find an empty compartment."

Cheering up slightly, Celia responded, "Yeah, ok."

Celia walked over to her parents, hugged them goodbye, then took her trunk and the basket that held her napping cat Hurley, and dragged it onto the Hogwarts Express to find a seat.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: All of the characters, with the exception of Celia and Mick, are the creation of the amazing JK Rowling and are Harry Potter characters, or are characters from the amazing TV show LOST. Please R&R!

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Chapter 2:

You're not Missing Anything

Celia and Hannah dragged their trunks down the corridor in the Hogwarts Express. As they had gotten to the station early, they were able to find an empty one. The girls put their trunks up on the luggage rack, sat down, and began chatting, and after about 10 minutes, they felt the train lurch to life, and start pulling away from the station.

"So how was your summer Celia?"

"It was pretty good. We spent most of the summer at my Uncle Liam's and Aunt Rachel's house in Australia."

"Mind if we sit in here?"

Celia looked up to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione standing in the doorway, looking slightly apprehensive.

"Sure," Celia responded.

The three entered the compartment, stowed their luggage, and sat down.

"Three years, and I feel I've barely spoken to any of you," Celia said to them.

"I agree completely," Hermione began. "We're so fixated on competition between the houses, that we don't have inner-school unity."

"All right Hermione," Ron said, sounding impatient and slightly bored. The pair immediately started bickering.

"Well, when was the last time you talked to someone not a Gryffindor?" Hermione retorted.

"Quite frankly, you're not missing anything," Harry said quietly to Celia, who laughed.

"Cedric isn't a Gryffindor, and we talked to him!"

"Oh, because THAT was a cheerful conversation, you still hold that stupid grudge because Hufflepuff beat us ONE TIME last year!"

"Guys!" Harry shouted. Both Ron and Hermione looked rather taken aback by Harry's shouting. Hermione blushed.

"Sorry. But I agree completely, Celia. So, how was your summer?" Hermione said, desperate for a change in topic.

"Fine, thanks. I spent it traveling with family, visiting family, you know."

Hermione nodded.

"What did you guys…" Celia began. They heard a scratching noise, and Harry, Ron and Hermione looked around to find the source. "Oh fine!"

Celia stood up on the seat, pulled down a cat basket, sat back down, and unhinged the door. A chubby tabby cat plodded out.

"This is Hurley," Celia explained to the three Gryffindors.

The train ride passed quickly enough, and Celia soon became good friends with the trio. When the sky had darkened considerably, the five had still not noticed what time it was. A tall blond boy stuck his head into the compartment; a prefect badge gleaming on his chest.

"We'll be arriving soon. You'll want to change into your robes," he told the group before leaving again. Celia sighed.

"My brother, Aaron. God's frickin' gift to humanity." Celia explained.

"But you and Aaron get on so well," Hannah said.

"Oh we do. I love him dearly, but he will not shut up since he got his prefect badge!" Celia replied.

A few minutes later, Cho came to the compartment. Harry froze as she smiled at him.

"Hey Celia, good summer?"

"Yeah, you?" Celia replied, not noticing Harry's reaction to Cho's sudden appearance and his shock at Celia and Cho being friends.

"Yeah, fine," Cho replied. "Have you seen your brother?"

"He went that way," Celia said, pointing to the left, "a couple minutes ago."

"Thanks," Cho said. She left and smiled at Harry again, causing him to turn a light shade of pink. Celia finally noticed his reaction to this recent occurrence.

"You… you fancy her, don't you?" Celia asked, grinning.

"What?! No! Are she and your brother dating?"

Celia laughed.

"No, they did in their third year, but they're just friends now," Celia responded, smirking.

"Ah," Harry said, trying to remain composed.

"Cause I can set you up if you want," Celia told him.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure she likes you," Celia said. Harry looked positively ecstatic.

About twenty minutes later, the train slowed to a crawl and pulled into Hogsmeade station. The five of them, with the new addition of Justin and Ernie, got off of the train and piled into a carriage. When they reached the castle, the group of seven split into two groups of three and four, and went to their respective tables. Celia listened intently to Dumbledore's speech, and soon the feast began. Part way through the meal, Hannah leaned over to Celia and whispered, "Cedric's looking at you." Celia was so taken aback by this, that Cedric had been looking at her, that she started choking on her food. Once she had composed herself, Justin half-way leaned across the table to talk to her.

"That's attractive," he said, smirking, knowing her too well to not know why she had started choking.

"Shut up before I stab you," Celia said, eyes watering, pointing her fork menacingly at Justin. He smirked and returned to his dinner.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: So finally chapter three! Sorry it took so long, I was distracted because I got Order of the Phoenix for Christmas. But here is it, chapter three! Let me start by saying that Cedric and Celia are not Harry and Ginny, they have one similarity, that's it. Anna Baxter is a character I made up for no real reason, she was originally going to be Anastasia Beaverhousen, (Karen's alias on Will and Grace) in another fan fiction, but that never got written and I anglicized her name and put her in as a cameo character here. I really am not crazy about the middle, it's one of those things where you need to get it written, but you don't really like it. But it had to be written, so here it is. Please R&R.

oh yeah, disclaimer:

Disclaimer: All of the characters, with the exception of Celia and Mick, are the creation of the amazing JK Rowling and are Harry Potter characters, or are characters from the amazing TV show LOST.

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Chapter 3:

What the Bloody Hell was That?

Cedric's eyes scanned up and down the table at dinner. They fell on the blonde he had seen on the platform, and he thought of how shocked he was when he first saw her. _Celia really grew up,_ he thought, _Of course she had always been pretty._ However, he hadn't looked as her like that since the end of last year. _Oh, this summer was so useful, then,_ he mentally rolled his eyes; he had spent all of last summer trying to convince himself that he was not interested in Celia. Of course, he couldn't really look at her like that; Aaron would castrate him. She was such a sweet girl; he couldn't help but be attracted to her. He realized he was still looking at her when Hannah Abbot noticed him looking in their direction, and looked from him to Celia. He quickly looked away, turning slightly red, but out of the corner of his eye he saw Hannah whisper something to Celia.

Celia finished her dinner in a cautious and thoughtful state; why was Cedric looking at her? Had he found out that she liked him? Even with the announcement of the tri-wizard tournament, the most interesting development for Celia was still that Cedric had been looking at her. When dinner was over, she left quickly with Hannah, Ernie, and Justin to avoid talking to him. It wasn't like she didn't want to talk to him; but it seemed like too much at the time. She hit a snag in her plan, however, when they got down to the basement and none of them knew the password. And, of course, the first prefect down there was Cedric. It wasn't like she didn't want to be around him, but every time she talked to him; her stomach did the cliché flip-flop that people wrote about. She connected with him; and she knew more about him than a lot of the girls in his year. He led the nervous-looking group of first years who were following him up to the statue.

"Helga," He said, and the statue slid to the side. Celia could have sworn that he winked at her before leading the first years inside. She joined the growing group of people entering the common room, and found her friends over by the fireplace. Susan Bones was reclining backwards lying on Ernie McMillan on the couch; Hannah was sitting by the grate, and Justin was hanging upside down on the the aforementioned couch. Celia threw herself into a comfy yellow armchair near her friends. They were soon joined by their friend Anna Baxter, who sat down in the chair next to Celia's. Celia listened to the conversation with minimal interest, her mind wandering to the extensive possibilities as to why Cedric was looking at her. Finally, realizing that she needed to move past the event, she announced that she was going to bed. Hannah, her best friend, realized immediately that she was preoccupied with something.

"I'm tired, I'm going to bed too," Hannah announced, and the pair waved goodnight to their friends. In the dormitory, Hannah questioned Celia about her behavior.

"Okay, what's wrong? You've been acting strange all day,"

"It's nothing," Celia said, turning away from Hannah.

"Celia, you've been my best friend since first year, what's wrong?"

Turning back to her, Celia realized that Hannah had a point.

"I've been thinking about Cedric a lot,"

"Does this have to do with Cedric looking at you?"

"Well, yeah. I don't know what's wrong with me, I used to be able to talk to him, but now, I'm being all unreasonable! I don't understand why!"

"It's because you must have finally realized that he fancies you and you're nervous for some ridiculous reason! Good Lord! Ask him our already!"

The dormitory door opened, and Susan Bones walked in.

"Why are we shouting?" Susan inquired.

"We were discussing the possibility of Cedric fancying Celia," Hannah responded simply.

"Oh," Susan nodded and crossed over to the bathroom. Her friends knew her well enough to realize that this was a frequent occurrence. Celia sank down onto her bed.

"I don't know. It's just weird to talk to him now, not that it was too easy before, mind you. I could talk to him so easily before I started to fancy him." She sighed. "So I don't know if he knows I fancy him."

Hannah sat down beside her.

"Celia, you're overreacting. It's definitely not because he knows you fancy him. He had a sort of look on his face like you did on the platform, just sort of in a state. Susan and Anna and I have told you for the longest time that it's entirely possible for him to fancy you. Talk to him."

Hannah stood up and entered the bathroom that Susan had vacated a moment before. Celia, still preoccupied with her thoughts, changed into her pajamas,crawled into bed, and soon fell asleep.

The next day, Celia woke around the same time as everyone else in her dormitory, so they made their way down to the common room together. Celia finished straightening her tie as the four girls walked into the common room and saw Justin walking out of the tunnel to the boy's dorm.

"Where's Ernie?" the girls inquired about the whereabouts of their other friend.

"Still asleep… git," Justin responded, and the five went up to breakfast. As Celia ate her breakfast, her mother's brown Rufous owl fluttered down beside her.

"Hello, Chook," Celia said, stroking the owl's feathers. It hooted softly and held out its right leg. Celia noticed that there was also a letter tied on its left leg. Celia presumed it was for Aaron, and untied the parchment on the right leg. Sure enough, after Celia had untied it, it fluttered over to the end of the table where her older brother was sitting. Celia unfurled the parchment and read the letter from her mother.

Dear Celia,

I know you probably think that I don't need to send you a letter the first day any more, but everyone should get mail their first day back. And I'm sure you've noticed that your brother got one as well. Uncle Liam phoned, Megan left for University of Adelaide this morning. I expect that you will be getting mail from your Uncle Jack and Aunt Kate; they like to know how you are doing. We do too; so don't take too long to write back. Your father told me last night that he will be leaving for a tour across Australia with Liam and DriveSHAFT on Wednesday, so I will look forward to you and Aaron's letters, as I will be alone here for several weeks. I love your father, but the man drives me crazy with his tours that he tells me about two days in advance! Literally! Have a good first day.

Love,

Mum

Celia smiled. It was like her dad to do things like that; announcing impromptu tours with his already well-established band, DriveSHAFT. Tucking the letter in her backpack, she finished her breakfast, and then received her class schedule from Professor Sprout. She leaned over to see Justin's.

"Looks like we have the basic classes together," Celia said, looking at Justin's schedule.

"Yeah, Herbology first today,"

The group waited for Ernie, who had arrived ten minutes after them, to finish his breakfast, and they walked towards the doors to the Entrance Hall. The instant they reached the door, Cedric pushed it open and walked inside. He saw them and smiled, and Celia began to blush furiously.

"Hey Celia, all right summer? I didn't get a chance to talk to you last night,"

"Yeah. Actually, I knocked Aaron out with a bludger," Celia said, in a voice softer and a shade higher than her own.

"Well maybe we should have you replace him on our team this year,"

Celia blushed even more and flipped her hair, smiling sheepishly. Cedric grinned and looked away, neither of them able to make eye contact with the other. Celia was so deep in her own embarrassment that she did not notice Cedric's.

"Well, I should get going," Cedric said after a brief pause, blushing slightly, "I have to get to class soon, so," he nodded towards the Hufflepuff table, "breakfast." Another pause, again where neither could make eye contact. Finally Cedric broke the silence again. "It's good to see you again Celia."

She blushed again, then nodded.

"You too."

He nodded, and then walked away towards the Hufflepuff table. Celia realized she had been watching him walk away when Justin and Ernie brought her back to reality by simultaneously clearing their throats. Celia turned around to face her friends, and confronted by the mixed looks of "I told you so," from the girls and "That was the most disgusting display of flirting I have ever seen," from the blokes, and, annoyed with their smugness, walked past them and went on her way to Herbology, her five friends trailing after her.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Ernie began.

"What are you talking about?" Celia asked.

"Your hair-flipping and giggling,"

"I don't giggle,"

Ernie did a relatively accurate, if not offensive, impression of Celia talking to Cedric. Celia, frustrated with her friend, shoved him and he collided with the Ravenclaw hourglass as they went through the doors onto the grounds, Herbology bound.

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A/N: Yes, readers who are LOST fans (although I don't know if there are any, but whatever) Celia is the fictional second child of Charlie and Claire, where Aaron wasn't Thomas' child, but Charlie's, and Charlie and Claire are happily married and Charlie is not dead, because I ship them too much. If you don't watch LOST, you're not going to miss anything; I just put the characters in as her family. It has no ties to LOST other than the characters being her family, so it's not really a crossover. Anyway. Flames will be used to build a rescue fire. 


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Chapter 4! Finally! I know, right? It took me forever to get this started, but I already had the middle, which I actually liked. This is another flashback-style chapter. You'll have to read to see what it's about. R&R please! Thanks once again to my amazing beta and bestie silverlastsforever. Oh, and the bold bit is a flashback-type-memory thing. It happened in the third year, Celia's in her fourth, if that wasn't clear enough.

Disclaimer: All of the characters, with the exception of Celia and Mick, are the creation of the amazing JK Rowling and are Harry Potter characters, or are characters from the amazing TV show LOST. Plus, I borrowed some of the text from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, so a lot of the Divination scene (particularly the lines of people who are not Celia) so that's the work of JK Rowling, but we knew that.

Chapter 4:

That's what she Said

Celia and her friends walked onto the grounds, making their way to Greenhouse 3. Walking in, Celia took a seat next to Seamus Finnigan. She turned to him and smiled.

"Hi Seamus,"

"Hey gorgeous. How are you?"

"I'm alright. You?"

"Yeah, I'm okay,"

Professor Sprout cleared her throat. Celia looked up to see the rest of the class had arrived. Most of them were looking with interest at the strange plants with large growths on them that sat in front of the students.

"Welcome back, 4th years!"

The class all muttered their greetings to Professor Sprout. She smiled.

"I hope you all have had a good summer, and I hope you are ready for the new school year. Now, can any of you tell me what is the name of this strange looking plant in front of you?"

Hermione's hand immediately shot into the air. Professor Sprout pointed to her.

"That's a Bubotuber,"

"Excellent. And who can tell me what purpose they serve?"

Hermione and Ernie both raised their hands and Professor Sprout pointed at Ernie.

"Their pus is used to treat blemishes. I remember once, my uncle, a Herbologist, he…"

Celia tuned out what Ernie was talking about. He was her friend, but he did have a tendency to ramble on, so while silently wishing her bombastic friend would shut up, she stared off into space.

**Celia was in her 3****rd**** year Herbology class, working at the same planter as Hannah and Justin. Ernie, Seamus and Dean were working at the planter next to her, Dean and Seamus on the opposite side of the table as Ernie. Celia couldn't help but notice that Dean and Seamus kept looking at her, whispering, and grinning. It sounded like Dean was egging Seamus on… telling him to do something. At the end of the class, Celia was almost out the door when she heard a voice call out behind her.**

"**Hey Celia!"**

**She turned around, and Seamus sauntered over to her. They walked out of the greenhouse and stood by the door.**

"**So… are you going to Hogsmeade this weekend?"**

"**Yeah,"**

"**Would you… Would you like to go with me?"**

**Celia looked at him. Seamus was sweet and really cute. And it didn't look like Cedric would ever notice her. She smiled.**

"**Yeah, I'd love to,"**

**He grinned.**

"**Cool, well… I have… Magical Creatures," he pointed towards Hagrid's hut. Celia nodded.**

"**Potions,"**

"**Cool," Seamus said nodding, "I'll meet you in the Entrance Hall at… is 9:30 good?"**

"**Yeah,"**

"**Cool,"**

**He walked, more like strutted off to Care of Magical Creatures. Celia grinned. When she got to potions, Hannah was already there.**

"**What took you?"**

**Celia seemed to be in a surprised daze.**

"**Seamus... Seamus asked me out,"**

"**Really? I told you he fancied you. Wait… how do you feel about this?"**

"**Flattered, and surprised, and a little excited,"**

**That Saturday, Celia spent a long time fidgeting with her hair in front of the mirror.**

"**I thought you didn't like Seamus," Hannah raised an eyebrow.**

"**I don't really... not like that… but… I don't know. I don't know if Cedric will come around, so why not keep my options open. I don't know. Does that sound awful? Seamus is nice, so why not spend time with him?"**

"**Celia, you're in your 3****rd**** year. Who's to say Cedric won't come around? And no," Hannah grinned, "it doesn't sound awful,"**

"**So you're going out with Justin today," Celia said, wanting to steer conversation away from her.**

**Hannah blushed. Once Celia was satisfied with how she looked, she linked arms with Hannah, and they went up to breakfast. When she had nearly finished, she looked at her watch.**

"**I've got to go. See you all later."**

**She stood up, waved goodbye to her friends, and walked into the Entrance Hall. Seamus was waiting by the hourglasses. She walked over to him.**

"**Hey there. You ready to go?" Seamus inquired.**

**She nodded, and they joined the queue waiting to pass by Filch.**

**Celia had a great time with Seamus. They wandered around the shops, visited with friends in the three broomsticks, and wandered the little village. Around noon, when they were walking, Seamus slipped his hand in with hers. He looked at her, a bit nervous, as if asking if that was alright. Celia grinned which caused Seamus to as well. That afternoon, when they got back to the castle, Seamus walked Celia back to the door to the basement.**

"**I had fun today, Seamus,"**

"**Me too. Thanks for comin' with me,"**

**She smiled and him, and he leaned in and gave her a hug. As he was pulling way, he gave her a quick peck on the cheek. He turned and, again with his strut, he headed up the marble staircase. Celia turned and walked into the basement and entered the Hufflepuff common room. She was in such a confused daze. How did this compare with her feelings for Cedric? She was so engrossed with her thoughts that she didn't notice who was sitting on the couch when she sat down in the chair right next to it.**

"**Have a good time in Hogsmeade?"**

**Celia whipped around. Cedric was sitting on the couch, apparently finishing a bit of homework. He looked up at her. Celia blushed, as she always did when her looked at her.**

"**Yeah, I did. I went with…" she paused, did she want to tell him this? She doubted he would ever like her, why would he care? "I went with Seamus,"**

**Cedric, who had returned to his homework shortly after Celia had begun to answer him, looked quickly up. His grey eyes bore into her hazel ones, causing her to blush again.**

"**The Gryffindor?"**

**Celia hesitated. Why did he care?**

"**Ye- Yeah. Yeah, he… asked me Tuesday,"**

**Cedric nodded, looking a little distracted.**

"**Did you… did you have a good time?"**

"**Yeah, I did,"**

"**He didn't… he was polite? He didn't try anything?"**

"**No… he… he was really sweet. Cedric, what's with all the questions?"**

"**Nothing, you're my friend's little sister and I thought I should check in on you. Aaron would do the same," Cedric said, looking sufficiently uncomfortable, and, although Celia did not notice, like he was not being altogether honest.**

"**Oh," Celia said softly, looking at the floor.**

**Cedric looked awkwardly around, looking anywhere but the blonde 3****rd**** year sitting opposite him.**

"**I've got something I… well, I'll see you later," Cedric said awkwardly.**

**He gathered up his things on his lap in one swift motion and left for the boys dorm. Celia sat there, in a worse mood than before. **_**So he does only see me as Aarons little sister.**_

**The next day, she walked up to Seamus.**

"**Hey Seamus,"**

"**Hey, how are you?"**

**Even though that conversation with Cedric had made her think he just saw her as his friend's little sister, it had also hade her realize that she still seriously liked Cedric, and, although hanging out with Seamus had been fun, she really did not like him like that.**

"**Fine. Seamus, listen, I like you, and you're really sweet, but I just don't like you in that way. I had fun yesterday, but… it's hard to explain,"**

"**That's fine," Seamus said, looking completely alright with the situation, "I get it. We weren't serious anyway,"  
"I know, but I didn't want to, I don't know…"**

"**Get my hopes up?"**

"**Well," Celia blushed slightly and looked away.**

"**I've been rejected before Celia, it's alright," he said, grinning.**

**She smiled.**

"**We're good Celia," he winked at her and walked towards the Gryffindor table. As she walked towards the Hufflepuff table, she could have sworn she heard a trace of a flirtatious comment directed to a Gryffindor girl and an Irish accent.**

"Thank you Ernie. Now, you are going to fill these tubes with the pus—"

"Pus?"

"Yes, Finnigan, pus. You'll want to wear protective gloves for this."

The class set to work. Celia was having a rather difficult time getting one growth to pop.

"It… won't… come… out!"

"That's what she said," Seamus said with a smirk.

"That is what I sa- Seamus!" Celia said with a squeal as she realized what he meant. He smirked at her and winked. Class ended soon enough, and Celia and the other Hufflepuffs made their way back up to the castle for Transfiguration.

Transfiguration was the same old. McGonnagall's annual speech about work and determination and an hour of enlarging chickens later, they headed to lunch. Celia had Divination afterwards, and then charms with the Slytherins. After lunch, as Celia was the only one of her friends in Divination, she began the trek up to the North Tower. She ascended the ladder, and entered the sweltering Divination room.

"Well, fancy meeting you here!" She said, crossing the room and greeting Harry and Ron.

"Hello Celia," Harry said. Ron smiled at her.

Celia smiled at them both and sat down at the table with them.

"Good day," Professor Trelawney said from directly behind Harry. He jumped. Celia and Ron smirked at each other and Harry's reaction. Trelawney, of course, began her prediction of Harry's imminent demise, Celia and Ron casting bemused glances at him as he rolled his eyes.

"My dears, it is time for us to consider the stars. I have given each of you a star chart, which you will fill out based on the positions of the planets at the precise moment of your birth," Professor Trelawney said wistfully.

A half an hour later, the class was attempting to fill out the star charts they had been given by Professor Trelawney. Harry was calculating an angle with a compass, Celia was glaring at her star chart, and Ron had given up entirely on his.

"I've got two Neptunes," Harry said, frowning at his chart. "That, that can't… be right…" Harry looked up at Celia and Ron.

"Aaahh," Celia said, imitating Professor Trelawney's voice and manor of speaking, picking up Harry's star chart and turning it, peering at it with her nose two inches from the parchment, "but Harry, when two Neptunes appear in the sky,"

"It is a sure sign that a midget in glasses is being born," Ron finished.

The three laughed, which was covered up by the excited squeals of Parvati and Lavender at the next table.

"Oh Professor! I think I've got an undiscovered planet! What is it Professor?"

"It is Uranus, dear," Professor Trelawney said, looking at the chart.

"Can I have a look at Uranus too, Lavender?" Ron asked.

Celia hit Ron on the arm.

"Stop it!" she hissed, but still sniggered under her breath.

After Divination ended, Celia descended the ladder, waved good-bye to Harry and Ron, and made her way to the charms corridor. She entered the room to find her friends standing at one side of it, whispering about something.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"That's that Lyra girl," Susan responded, pointing at a girl with light blonde hair in Slytherin robes, sitting by herself at a table.

"Oh, she's the girl who got in that spat with Malfoy, right?" Celia said.

"Yeah. I wonder what she's like. She must have a lot of nerve to stand up to Malfoy," Hannah said.

"Well, why don't we go talk to her?" Celia said.

She and Hannah walked over to the girl called Lyra.

"Um, are you Lyra?" Hannah asked tentatively.

"Yeah," she said slowly, looking a little apprehensive.

'Hi, I'm Hannah Abbot," Hannah said, introducing herself.

"And I'm Celia Pace," Celia said, "do you mind of we sit with you?"

"No, not at all," Lyra said, smiling at them, "I'd be glad of the company."

The pair sat next to her at the table, Hannah on Lyra's left, and Celia on Hannah's left.

"So, just wondering, but, you don't get on well with the rest of the Slytherins, do you?" Hannah asked.

"No, Ever since I stood up to Draco, they act like I have the plague,"

"Well, you've earned a lot of respect from everyone else," Celia said.

"Really?" Lyra said, sounding shocked.

"Yeah, no one else has the nerve," Hannah put in.

'Well, someone had to do it, why should Harry get all the fun?"

They laughed, perhaps a little too loudly, because Professor Flitwick's high voice cut in, "Miss Abbot, Pace and Donovan, if it is so important I will stop class so you can carry on your conversation,"

The girls smirked and returned to their note taking.

A/N: Well, there we go! Chapter 4! I'm rather proud of it if I do say so myself. Seamus is not going to be a romantic interest for Celia, nor does he still like her. Don't flame me. Flames will be used to build a rescue fire. Seamus is really the Dave the Laugh to Celia's Georgia. If you know what that means, you are automatically awesome in my book. But basically, in On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God, Georgia dates Dave the Laugh to try and attract attention from an older boy, which works, so she breaks up with Dave the Laugh. Coincidence? Completely. I had intended for this to happen in my story, but I didn't realize it until a few nights ago. I also ended it the same way my friend silverlastsforever ended her chapter 3, with this conversation. I don't know if I need to tell you again to read her stories. They are amazing! Anyway, Lyra will be making more appearances in my story, along with other cameo appearances of my friends characters.


	5. Chapter 5

Celia was becoming better and better friends with the trio

A/N: Sorry it took so long to post this, but it's been CRAZY lately! School has made me really busy, and with so many things to do, I haven't had time to write. But I knew I needed to get this out, with my friends who read and my regular reviewers screaming for a new chapter, and in the case of some of my friends, I have received threats, none violent, but threats of withholding information and candy (you know who you are). And to clear up any confusion, and because as you all know, I can't update things that are already up and I can't change it on chapter 4, but the large section in bold is a FLASHBACK/MEMORY thing, it's in her third year, and Celia's in her 4th, so, that didn't just happen. I just wanted to make it clear that the section in bold is from a year before the actual plot of the fanfiction occurs, and the Seamus thing is over. Thanks to my beta, silverlastsforever, Disclamer: JK Rowling created the characters except for Celia and the characters from LOST, yada yada yada, and withought further ado, chapter 5!

Chapter 5:

She's a Cow

Celia was becoming better and better friends with the trio. Ron's laid back slacker attitude and Hermione's slightly tight strung tendencies led to frequent quarrels between the two, arguing like and old married couple. Harry was amiable and calm, frequently breaking up their numerous fights. She had quite a few classes with them and enjoyed their company.

Friday, the first week back, Celia was eating breakfast when she heard an exasperated Hermione cry, "for the last time no, Ronald!" before storming from the hall. Before Celia could register what had happened, Ron had sidled up next to her at the Hufflepuff table.

"Why hello Celia! You don't happen to have your Herbology homework done, do you?" Ron inquired smoothly.

"Yes Ron, and no, you can't copy it," Celia laughed, knowing full well his intentions.

"Damn."

Harry laughed as he approached, "Ron, quit trying to copy other people's homework! How are you this morning, Celia?"

"Oh, I'm fine," she turned to look at him, "How are you?"

"Fine," Harry replied, slightly preoccupied and distracted, looking past Celia to the Slytherin table, "Um, Celia, why is Millicent Bulstrode glaring at you?"

Celia's smile quickly turned into a scowl, "Because she's a cow," Celia spat, enunciating the word cow and surveying Harry through angrily squinted eyes.

"Okay… sensing some tension between you two?" Harry asked tentatively.

Celia sighed, "It's a long story," Celia returned to her more cheerful demeanor, "You might want to sit down."

Harry sat on the other side of Celia. He and Ron peered at her with mock curiosity, chins identically placed in their hands.

Celia sighed again.

"Well, everyone knows that Millicent Bulstrode fancies Blaise Zabini," Celia began.

"Of course," Harry said.

"Wait, what?" Ron gaped at them with a look of confusion and surprise on his face.

"Later," Harry rolled his eyes.

"Well, anyway," Celia continued, "Not everyone knows that Blaise Zabini used to like me."

"Wait, WHAT?" Harry and Ron said in unison this time.

"Yeah, well, used to being the key phrase in this. Blaise was my first friend at Hogwarts. We met on the train. Then I was sorted into Hufflepuff, and him in Slytherin. Where he met Millicent Bulstrode. Well, she fancied, and still fancies, him. Of course, she found out he fancied me. I didn't know he fancied me, and didn't feel the same way towards him anyway. He was just my friend. That's important too. Don't spread that. I don't… like… Blaise… Zabini," Celia said, gesturing with her hands to make sure her point was perfectly clear. "Well, Millicent Bulstrode, the jealous cow that she is, did not like me because Blaise fancied me. Then second year came around, as well as the Chamber of Secrets. It wasn't a good time to be a muggle-born. My dad is a muggle. Well, a Slytherin who was friends with and fancied a half blood, who was also a Hufflepuff. My, how would that look? Well, Blaise cut ties with me, and we don't speak anymore," Celia finished.

"Wait, where does Millicent Bullstrode fit into this?" Harry asked.

Celia smiled sadly, "Who do you think told Blaise my dad was a muggle?"

"But, if you didn't like Blaise, why did it matter?" Ron asked this time.

"Because he was my first friend at Hogwarts. And that cow," Celia said for the third time, "made it so he never spoke to me again," she shrugged, "Of course Blaise has had his share of girlfriends, and obviously doesn't fancy me anymore, not that I care. But Millicent Bullstrode still hates me because he fancied me in the second year. And that," Celia said with a nod of her head, "is why Millicent Bullstrode was glaring at me,"

The next day, Celia was crossing the courtyard on her way to Herbology when Cho walked up next to her.

"Hi, Celia!"

"Oh, hello, Cho," Celia smiled at her.

"So, I've noticed you've become rather friendly with Harry and his mates," Cho casually observed as the two strolled across the courtyard.

"Yeah, they're quite nice." Celia raised her eyebrows, "Cho, do you fancy him?"

Cho turned bright red.  
"Oh, well, I, I mean, I don't', I mean, he's quite, I mean, he is rather, I mean, well, you know…"

"Because I could set you two up, if you wanted. He fancies you," Celia grinned.

"Oh, well, I don't want you to, you know, go out of your way, I mean, if you, I mean, wanted to, well…"  
"Alright, I'll talk to him then," Celia said, grinning once more before striding away from Cho towards the Greenhouses.

Once inside Greenhouse Three, Celia stood next to Harry as they worked, once again, collecting the pus from Bubotubers.

"So, do you want to go on a date with Cho this Saturday?" Celia asked Harry nonchalantly.

"I, we… I…she… wou… I…meh… I…eh… yes," Harry said quickly.

"Great, it's a date."

As the Hufflepuffs and Gryfindors returned to the Great Hall for lunch, Harry looked anxiously for Cho. He and Celia entered the Great Hall, and as they passed the Ravenclaw table, Cho stood up.

"Hi Harry. Hi Celia," Cho grinned.

"Hi Cho," the two said in unison, Celia then adding, "I'll see you two later."

As she crossed behind Harry as she walked toward the Hufflepuff table, she gave him a little nudge and whispered, "Ask her!"

She could not help but grin as she sat down to eat and saw Harry wring his hands nervously before finally posing the question, Cho's face lighting up.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Well, here's chapter 6. It's relatively un-beta'd, except by me, because I'm impatient, and didn't want to wait for my beta (sorry SLF) so if you guys see any mistakes that I made, or you think I should change something, or SLF, if you want to take over my computer and fix something, feel free. Anyway, enjoy, chapter 7 should be up within the week, it's actually done, but I want to put a little space between 6 and 7. Please R&R!

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Chapter 6:

Stalking Blaise

Celia woke up early that Wednesday morning, so she wandered down to the Great Hall without her friends to have an early breakfast. She had potions that morning, so she wandered down to the dungeons to do some reading before class. As she wandered the dark corridors, Slytherins began to pass on their way up to breakfast, scowling at her in her Hufflepuff robes. Suddenly, a wide figure with dark hair slammed into her side.

"Watch where you're goin', you filthy half-blood," the figure sneered at her.

Celia scowled; she knew Millicent Bulstrode had purposely slammed into her. Celia whipped back around.

"Shut your mouth, you cow. Shouldn't you be off stalking Blaise?"

Millicent glared at her.

"What, disappointed you lost your little friend?" she wined in a baby-esque condescending voice.

"I can get over that; I have gotten over that. You, however, are just as desperate as you were two years ago," Celia jeered.

Celia barely had time to react. Millicent, moving surprisingly fast, whipped out her wand and screamed a curse at her. Celia felt a burning pain sear through her body, and was unconscious before she hit the floor.

Celia woke up several hours later. She slowly regained consciousness; first, a dull ache swept over her, she could hear Madame Pomphrey bustling around. Slowly she stirred and opened her eyes. Her movement alerted Madame Pomphrey, who walked briskly over to her.

"How are you feeling dear?" she asked kindly.

"Sore, really sore. What the hell kind of spell did that bitch use on me?"

"Language Ms. Pace," Madame Pomphrey said sternly.

"Sorry," Celia apologized.

"It was a stunning spell, a rather advanced one at that. Most of the soreness is because of the force it propelled you backward and downward with. It's lucky that your blonde friend brought you up; unconscious in a corridor full of Slytherins, I shudder at the thought. Anyhow, she said she would visit. You may leave when you feel up to it,"

"What time is it?" Celia asked.

"Around four o'clock," Madame Pomphrey responded.

"Four o'clock!" Celia exclaimed.

"Yes, nasty spell. I have no idea where she learned it, and students attacking students, completely unprovoked, why I…" Madame Pomphrey walked away, still muttering to herself under her breath.

The doors to the Hospital Wing flew open and Hannah, Ernie and Justin came rushing in. They all threw themselves into chairs around the bed that had been there when Celia had awakened and immediately began launching questions.

"Guys, guys, guys! Relax! I'm fine," Celia exclaimed.

"We came at lunch, but you were still unconscious," Justin breathed in one breath.

"I'm okay. Hannah, thanks for bringing me up here.

"I didn't bring you up here," she said, confused.

"Did… did you guys?" she looked at Ernie and Justin.

They both shook their heads.

"But Madame Pomphrey said…"

The door opened again. A girl with white-blonde hair who looked to be their age peered in. She saw Celia the three other Hufflepuffs watching her.

"Oh, I'll just… come back later," she blushed.

"No, come in," Madame Pomphrey invited.

She walked over to the girl and ushered her in. She led her over to the four Hufflepuffs.

"Celia, this is the girl that brought you up here," she smiled.

It took Celia a moment to recognize her. The girl was Lyra, the Slytherin who was constantly at odds with Draco, whom Celia and Hannah had spoken with on their first day back.

"Lyra?" Celia and Hannah questioned. Lyra blushed again.

"Why?" Ernie and Justin asked.

"Well, you were one of the few people who was nice to me, so it seemed the right thing to do," she shrugged as if she saved people on a regular basis.

"Well, thanks," Celia smiled jovially.

"Anytime," Lyra smiled, "although hopefully it won't happen again."


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Well, this is chapter 7. I hope you like it, I'm rather proud of it. Once again, I did this sans beta, so if you find stuff wrong with it, just tell me, I'd love help. The language gets a little worse than it's been in other chapters, because Cedric swears. Also, I put a poll up, so if you could vote, and if you pick the third choice, please comment and tell me who you think he should date. But otherwise, I don't think I have anything else to add. Enjoy!

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Chapter 7:

A Lot to Learn

Celia and Lyra left the Hospital Wing, ambling along through the hallways, chatting. On their way to dinner, as they walked down the second floor hallway, a skinny boy with dirty blonde hair was walking down the hallway in the opposite direction. He saw them, surveyed them with interest, and then approached them.

"Hey, I haven't seen you around before. And Celia, how you doin'?" the boy spoke with an American accent as he addressed them both and nodded at Celia.

"Um, can I help you?" Lyra asked, taken aback.

"I'm Mick, and you must be new, because I would definitely remember you."

"Well, thank you," Lyra responded curtly.

"No problem," Mick winked.

Mick walked away behind them. They watched him walk away until he was out of earshot before Lyra burst out laughing.

"Who was that?" she snorted in between her laughs.

"That's Mick. He's a sixth year in my house. He's a notorious flirt and very popular with girls his age. He's friends with Cedric Diggory," She explained.

"Who's Cedric Diggory?" Lyra asked genuinely. Celia shook her head.

"You have a lot to learn about this school," she replied.

Cedric was, and there was no other word for it, twitchy. He had heard Celia had been attacked by Millicent Bulstrode, and she was in the Hospital Wing. He was worried about her, and the worst part of it was that he couldn't be. She was Aaron's little sister, and that was the only connection to her he should have been allowed to have. Surely Aaron would not be okay with him liking his little sister, so he could not express his concern to him. He also could not go himself to see if she was all right, because he didn't want to give himself away to her. So he had to depend of any scrap of news he overheard in conversations. And worse than that, today was the day he was going to ask her out. So he sat in his room, on the edge of his bed, albeit not the best place to overhear conversations, staring at the wood paneled floor, shaking slightly. Suddenly the door crashed open and Mick ran panting into the room.

"You… will never… believe… who I just saw," he breathed.

Cedric sat up, eager for news.

"Who?"

"This really hot girl walking down the corridor," Mick continued, gesturing with his hands to emphasize how hot he thought this girl was.

Cedric's shoulders slumped.

"Damn it Mick! I thought you'd know something about Celia!" he exclaimed.

"Oh, this girl was with her, but listen-"

"What?!" Cedric interrupted.

"Yeah, they were walking, going down to dinner, she's in the common room. She's fine. But Cedric, I'm telling you, this girl was hot! She was blonde, and shaped like this," he made an hourglass shape quickly with his hands, "so I'm definitely gonna try to add her to my list of conquests. I'm telling you Cedric, she was hot," he finished.

Cedric sat, staring stone faced at Mick.

"So let me get this straight, Celia's fine, and she's here, and all you can talk about is this girl?" he shouted.

Mick nodded.

"Yeah. Are you still gonna ask Celia out?"

"Crap! Yes! Oh crap! What am I gonna say?" Cedric lost what remained of his composure.

"I don't know, but I'm gonna go talk to her about that girl," Mick responded.

As Mick rushed back out of the room, Cedric stuttered at him. Mick jogged towards Celia where she sat at a table trying to finish some Potions homework. He sat down across from her.

"Hey Celia. What's the name of the girl you were with earlier?" Mick inquired bluntly.

"Her name's Lyra. She's a Slytherin. She's new this year," Celia responded without looking up.

Mick nodded.

"She seeing anyone?"

"I think she fancies Draco Malfoy, but I'm not sure," she said slowly, looking up and mulling over her thoughts on the subject.

"Not after I talk to her," Mick said quietly, "Alright, thanks," he stood and walked back to his dorm room where Cedric stood in front of a mirror, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, psyching himself up. Mick surveyed him, scoffed, and crossed to his bed, where he began digging through his trunk.

"Dude, you're friends with me, you should not be this bad at talking to girls," Mick remarked. Cedric ignored him.

"Okay… alright… okay… here we go… okay… I can do this… okay… okay…" he muttered under his breath.

"Oh will you shut up and ask her out already?" Mick stated angrily. This caught Cedric's attention. He turned around.

"What?" he asked, surprised.

"Seriously, I'm tired of listening to you do that. Go ask her out, or I will. And I will tell you, in vivid detail, about all the times we snog. Just to piss you off 'cause you didn't have the balls to ask her out."

Cedric looked horrified.

"She wouldn't snog you!"

Mick gestured to himself, as if to make his point perfectly clear before shrugging and walking into the bathroom.

_He's right_, Cedric thought. _On some weird level, Mick's right. Because if I don't ask her out, someone else will. Seamus did._ He looked in the mirror for one last time, inspired by his last thought, took a deep breath, and walked out of his dorm room.

Celia was trying to finish the last stubborn bit of her Potions homework. It had never been her forte, but it normally was not this difficult. Of course, she had recently sustained a head injury. After 10 minutes more of struggling with the conclusion of her essay, Celia decided to give up homework for the night and get some sleep. She packed up her things, slung her bag over her shoulder, and walked towards the girl's dorms tunnel. She had walked a few feet down the tunnel when she heard someone call her name.

_It's now or never_, he thought. He walked onto the common room and looked around for her. He saw her walking towards the girl's dorms.

"Hey Celia!" he called after her.

She turned around. His stomach lurched. He felt so nervous as he walked towards her that he didn't notice the blush creeping across her face.

She turned around to see who it was. It was Cedric. She began to blush, and realizing this, she silently cursed her skin pigment for betraying her. _Oh crap, here he is_, she swore to herself as he reached her. He ran his hand through his hair.

"Hey Celia," he said again.

"Hey," she blushed.

She looked in his eyes. His eyes. His grey eyes that just made her melt. Oh God, she could not even look at him. She looked down at the ground, blushing madly.

"So… how… how are you? I heard that you were in the Hospital Wing," he said quietly.

"I'm," her voice caught in her throat as she looked up at him, thinking it impolite to not look at him while she was talking to him. His grey eyes held her hazel ones there, and this time, it was Cedric's turn to look away for a second.

"I'm alright," she finished, "It was nothing. Just got attacked by a Slytherin. Normal day at Hogwarts," she smiled.

He laughed.

"So you're having a good year back so far? Aside from that, I mean?" he asked, a little more confident.

"Yeah. Are you?"

"Yeah, it's been fine."

She nodded.

"So I… was… wondering," he ran his hand through his hair again, a nervous habit, "I was wondering if you were going with anyone to Hogsmeade?"

"Well I… I usually go in with Hannah and Susan and Anna, and you know Justin and Ernie. And Hermione and Harry and Ron might meet up with us there," she explained. Her voice had grown quieter as she spoke, realizing that she was rambling on about nothing.

"I, I don't do this, I mean, I'm not really good at this, but, would you like to come with me? To Hogsmeade?" he finished in one breath.

Celia looked up at him, a smile spreading across her face.

"Yeah, I'd love to go with you," she grinned.

Cedric's face reddened a little, his hue having nothing on the one on Celia's face.

"Okay, well, I'll see you around," he said.

"Okay."

She turned and walked calmly back to her dorm room. She walked in, closed the door behind her, and turned to Hannah.

"What's up?" Hannah asked.

Celia set down her bags, then ran screaming over to Hannah, grabbing her hands and jumping up and down.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Chapter 8! Huzzah! fanfare Okay, this chapter's a big one. A BIG ONE. As in, Celia and Cedric's date big. Anyway, I hope you aime it (that's French for like). I certainly do. I also want to preemptively apologize for Cedric's dorky behavior. Also, I bring the Lost characters back, so for those of you who watch Lost, I hope you enjoy the characters I made her related to, and don't hate me for the sort-or crossover. And without further ado, I give you drumroll chapter 8!!

Disclaimer: All the characters either belong to J.K. Rowling or the creators of Lost, unless they're Celia or Mick, in which case, they're my characters.

Chapter 8:

It's a Compliment

"So let's see, Cedric just asked you out?" Hannah asked.

"Yeah," Celia responded, breathless.

"So, clearly…" Hannah began slowly, irritation evident in her voice, "he likes you. So who was right the whole bloody time?" Hannah exclaimed. "I told you, since last year, that he could like you! That you had an in because you were his mate's little sister! That you should talk to him! But did you listen to me? No! No you didn't! Why? Because no one listens to Hannah Abbot!" Hannah exclaimed loudly before calming down.

"So what did he say? How did he ask you out?" she inquired.

Celia woke up on September 13th very nervous. It was the day of her date with Cedric. She got up exceedingly early just so she could fuss over her appearance. Hannah, who woke up at a decent hour, walked by Celia and scoffed. After Hannah was fully dressed and Celia was still fussing over her looks, Hannah seized her by the arm and pulled her out of the room.

"You look fine! He asked you out! Clearly he likes you! Quit worrying!" Hannah exclaimed in a frustrated manor.

"Hannah, let go! He's not going to like me," Celia retorted.

They had reached the common room. Hannah sat Celia down on the couch.

"Celia, you have been waiting for this forever. He asked you out. He definitely likes you. Don't worry. You look fine. Take a deep breath," Hannah instructed.

Celia complied.

"Okay. Let's go up to breakfast," Hannah suggested.

They walked up to the Great Hall, where Celia sat, barely able to eat. Cedric was in his room, trying to calm himself down, just as nervous as Celia. Mick walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder.

"I'm proud of you," Mick stated simply.

"Why?" Cedric asked.

"Because I knew you had a crush on her, but I never thought you'd have the balls to ask her out," he replied with a smile.

"Thanks, Mick."

"What? It's a compliment! In all seriousness. And don't worry. I'm sure it will go fine. And if Aaron sees you, he'll be fine with it," Mick said, unaware of the damage he had just done until Cedric responded.

"Oh my God! What if Aaron finds out? He would never be okay with me dating his little sister! Why would you mention that? What am I going to do?"

"Calm down! That's what you're going to do!"

Hannah was trying to engage Celia in conversation unrelated to Cedric. She had been relatively successful, until Ernie and Justin walked up and sat down opposite them.

"Heard some shouting from one of the boys dorms. I think it was the 6th years. What are we doing today? You two have anything you want to do at Hogsmeade?" Justin enquired, completely unaware of Celia's other plans. Hannah had been the only one she had told, and Mick, the only one Cedric had.

Celia turned to Hannah, face white.

"Oh, hell, I don't think I can do this," she stated simply.

"What's going on?" Ernie enquired, spearing a sausage on his fork. He and Justin gave each other confused looks as Hannah glared at them both.

"Nothing," Hannah responded curtly, "She's just… nothing," she felt it best to not elaborate any more than that.

"I really don't think I can, I mean, I can't lie, you know I can't come up with lies on the spot, if Aaron or anyone else asks, or what if we run into Aaron? I mean," Celia rambled on, looking at Hannah with wide eyes.

Hannah took a deep breath, and pushed Celia's plate towards her, imploring her to eat.

"It will be fine. All of Hogwarts goes on these trips, so it's not likely that you'll see him at all, and if you do, he'll just," Hannah looked at Ernie and Justin, who were both watching the exchange with furrowed eyebrows, eager to figure out what was going on.

"Well, it will be fine, at any rate," Hannah finished, not wishing to give any more clues to Ernie and Justin.

A look of slow comprehension crossed Justin's face, and he raised an eyebrow. Hannah gave him a warning look, and he lowered it.

After a few more minutes of Hannah's calming words and Ernie and Justin's confused expressions, Celia rose from the table and walked into the Entrance Hall, where Cedric stood waiting for her. She walked up to him, where they both exchanged quiet hello's.

"You ready to go?" Cedric asked. Celia nodded, and they joined the queue of people waiting to leave the castle. They walked down the winding path in silence, and continued into Hogsmeade with minimal conversation, save a few forced comments about the weather.

As they passed Honeydukes, for want of something to do, the pair entered. Once inside the packed store, a miniscule amount of tension was relieved. They finally managed to hold a conversation, about candy of all things.

"Hey guys, fancy running into you two here," Aaron greeted jovially.

The two whipped around to see Aaron standing behind them. But he didn't look mad. Nonetheless, the two were nervous; Cedric looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Celia recovered first.

"Hey… Aaron."

"Crowded place, huh? You guys run into each other here?" he asked, still smiling, still unaware that they were actually on a date.

"Sure…" Celia responded, unable to come up with a decent lie of her own.

"Alright, well, I have some people to meet, I'll see you guys later," Aaron replied, before waving and ducking out of the packed store.

After Aaron had left, the pair gave each other a terrified look, then burst out laughing.

"Oh my God, that was terrifying!" she exclaimed.

"I know!" Cedric responded, equally taken aback by Aaron's sudden appearance.

Finally they were able to have a normal conversation. Exchanging comments on how nerve-wracking that was to see Aaron, and Celia poked fun at him, Aaron, that is. Later, when they left Honeydukes, the tension between them returned, no longer surrounded by a packed store full of jovial students. Unfortunately for Cedric, he took the brunt of the tension. Inside his head, he was having a drawn-out monologue, where he argued with himself.

_Should I take her hand? Is she having a good time? I wonder if she likes me. Should I try to take her hand? What if Aaron's still around? What if he sees? What if she doesn't want me to take her hand? She could freak out of she thinks I'm being to forward. Oh, God, I could ruin my chances before I even had one! Okay, I think I'm going to go for it. I'm going to try to take her hand. I'm gonna do it. Here it goes_.

And in perfectly timed tragic irony, Cedric took a few steps closer to Celia, and she reached up to open the door to Zonkos, their next stop.

_Damn_.

They walked into the shop, Cedric utterly dejected, and started looking around. Around other people, it seemed to become easier for them to talk. But they had barely been in the shop for five minutes before Fred and George burst from the back room, cans of silly string in hand, shouting war cries and attacking anyone in sight. Unfortunately, Celia and Cedric were in their line of fire.

"Fred! Quit it!" Celia squealed.

She held up her hands to shield her face. The redheaded twins were merciless with their silly string, and she ducked behind Cedric, using him as a sort of human shield, grabbing his arms. Eventually, the twins passed on, attacking other patrons. Celia shyly peered around from behind Cedric, and, embarrassed, quickly removed her hands from his arms when she realized they were still there. Celia and Cedric, finally completely relaxed, exited the shop before Fred and George could attack them again. On their walk back to school, they talked easily and picked bits of silly string off of themselves.

"So tell me, what do you like to do?" Cedric asked, looking at her intently as they ambled around Hogsmeade.

"Well, I love music, I play the guitar, my dad taught me, and I want to be a healer one day, my Uncle and Grandfather are both healers, so it's sort of a family business," she smiled, "Tell me about you."

"Well, I like quidditch, but I don't think I'd play for a league; I'm not really sure what I'd like to do yet. But it sounds like family's really important to you. Tell me about them," he smiled.

"Okay," Celia blushed, not really wishing to talk about herself so much, "Well, I have a really big extended family, by blood and marriage, but also metaphorically."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, my parents have really close friends, so they're my "aunts," and "uncles,'" she made the air quotes gesture to articulate that she wasn't actually related to them.

"That's really nice," he smiled.

"Yeah, they're great. I guess to prevent confusion, I should tell you that I only have two sets of actual relation Aunts and Uncles, my Aunt and Uncle Karen and Liam, my dad's brother, and my Aunt and Uncle Kate and Jack, my mum's brother. But tell me about your family," she finished.

"Well, I'm an only child, so it's just me and my mum and dad, my mum has a brother too, but he's younger than her, and not married yet, so we don't have that big of an extended family. It must be nice, having so many people around."

"Yeah, they're really loud, to tell the truth," Celia laughed again. Cedric smiled. "And actually, most of them are muggles, my dad's a muggle, and for some reason, so are most of their friends," she shrugged, "I don't know, most of their friends are just muggles, except for my Aunt Kate and Uncle Jack, and a few others."

Their conversations continued, talking about family, interests, gossip, and the Triwizard Tournament.

"So what do you think some of the tasks are going to be?" Celia asked.

"Dunno, battle a dragon, something like that," Cedric said with a laugh.

Back in the Hufflepuff common room, Cedric and Celia stood in front of the entrance to the boy's dorm corridor.

"I had a really great time today, Cedric," she smiled meekly at him.

"Me too."

She smiled at him, then leaned in closer, standing on her toes to reach his height. She reached out her hand toward his face.

"You have some silly string in your hair," she smiled again.

She plucked a piece of pink silly string from behind his ear, Cedric turning the color of the silly string at her touch. She smiled and turned to go.

"Celia, wait!" he called after her.

She turned back right as he grabbed her hand and pulled him towards her, pulling her into a kiss.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: So I really like this chapter. It's kind of enormous, but it's funny. Like seriously, it makes me laugh every time I read it. It's kind of ridiculous when it comes to Angelina and Alicia's reactions, but still. Also, my computer is being weird, so it's not letting me put proper breaks in, so I hope it's easy to tell where the sections break. Also also, the swearing gets worse in this chapter, so I hope that doesn't bother you. Also also also, I hope you all get the tie in with silverlastsforever's Theory of Evolution. If you don't, you should read it, because it's great.

Disclaimer: The characters either belong to the amazing J.K. Rowling or the creators of Lost, unless they are Celia, Mick or Anna, in which case, they're my characters.

* * *

Chapter 9:

Welcome to the Family

So after their date in Hogsmeade, Celia and Cedric were officially a couple. He had asked her to be his steady girlfriend, to which she immediately responded yes. However, the two of them had decided to wait a few weeks to ease Aaron into the idea of them dating, and not just announce it to him and all of Hogwarts. As Celia's older brother and Cedric's friend, they both were not sure how Aaron would take it. So no one knew of their involvement except for Hannah and Mick, their two best friends.

However, Celia and Cedric were not the only ones who had had a good trip to Hogsmeade. The day after the trip, Cho found Celia and immediately launched into thanks for her arrangement with herself and Harry, and went on to tell Celia everything that had happened on their date. As far as Celia could tell, the two of them weren't official yet, and she had a feeling Cho would tell her when they were.

Harry certainly looked rather pleased about it; he too had talked to Celia on Monday in Herbology after his and Cho's date and had thanked her for setting it up. Celia merely grinned and told him he was welcome.

Meanwhile, Celia and Cedric had to sneak around, so as to prevent Aaron catching them holding hands in the hallway, or just generally being physically affectionate. The pair was spending a lot of time in the library, after making excuses to escape their friends, so they could just talk, or occasionally snog.

It was one such day, a day that they had plans to meet in the library near the end of September, that she received a letter from her mother. Offering the remainder of her toast to Chook, her mother's owl, she unfurled the parchment and read the letter from her mother.

Dear Celia,

I'm glad that school is going well. I'm sure it must be, seeing as how it took you so long to respond to my last letter! Quite all right, though, I've kept busy here, your Uncle Jack visits when your father's out of town, and I've had dinner with him and Kate a few nights. It's so nice to hear that you've made friends with some new people, Harry, Ron, and Hermione sound lovely, and it's so nice that you were able to set Harry up with Cho. Speaking on the terms of relationships, I trust that if there were any boys that you would tell your mum about them? (Celia had not gotten around to telling her mother about her and Cedric yet; she intended to do that in her next letter). And on the topic of new people, when I had dinner with your Uncle Jack, when I mentioned that you had made friends with the Weasley's youngest boy, he told me that our, his and mine, father's third cousin's son is Arthur Weasley, father to Ron Weasley and all the Weasleys at Hogwarts! So I suppose that makes you and Ron 5th cousins? I've never been good at ancestry, but I think that's right. Anyway, I hope you're having a lovely term and enjoy the Triwizard Tournament!

Love,

Mum

Furrowing her eyebrows at the letter, Celia smiled and turned in her seat to regard the Gryffindor table. Finding Harry, Ron, and Hermione halfway up the table a short distance away, she stood and walked over to them.

"So guess what, Ron? I'm apparently your 5th cousin!" Celia cried.

"What?" said Ron, turning around, his mouth full of bread.

"Yeah," Celia handed him the letter, "my grandfather Shepard is your grandfather Weasley's third cousin," she explained.

"So," Ron swallowed hard, so he could properly respond, "we're related? That's cool," he smiled.

"Who are we related to?" came two voices behind them.

Celia turned to see Fred and George standing behind her, looking quizzical.

"Me," she responded, "We're 5th cousins or something. My grandfather's your grandfather's 3rd cousin," she shrugged.

"Well," Fred clapped Celia on the back and smiled, "welcome to the family."

Celia walked through the Library, making her way through the aisles, knowing exactly where she was going. On her way, she passed Draco sitting at one of the tables, looking frustrated.

"What?!" he shouted after a retreating blonde figure clad in Slytherin robes.

Celia shrugged and continued until she reached a rarely used aisle where Cedric sat perched on a table. She smiled and approached him.

"How are you?" she asked, running her fingers through his brown hair.

"Fine. Some Slytherins were shouting about me earlier," he shrugged.

Celia cocked her head to the side inquisitively.

"Oh, okay," she smiled.

Forgoing conversation, she straddled him and, sitting on his lap, leaned in and kissed him softly. He pulled her closer and kissed her harder. A few minutes of heavy snogging later, Celia heard a voice, or rather, two, break the silence from behind her.

"Huh. I figured you'd go for brains, Celia."

"Like Roger Davies."

"Or someone your age."

"But sheer brawn? Tsk tsk," George clicked his tongue at her, "I thought you'd have taste."

"Of course, no offense, _Cedric_," Fred said his name with a hint of distaste in his voice. Celia, frowning, peeled herself off of Cedric and twisted around on Cedric's lap to survey the twins.

"Piss off, you two," she said irritably.

Fred tutted at her.

"Celia, such attitude. Is that any way to talk to family? But in all honesty, I never saw this coming. But you two were together in Zonko's," he gasped, "were you two on a date? Ah well, can't be right all the time, can we George?"

"No, I suppose not. Looks like we owe Harry five sickles."

Celia was growing exasperated by the twins exchange with mostly each other. She was also worried someone would come across their small gathering, and that the twins might let word out that Celia and Cedric were involved.

"All right, okay, can you two promise not to tell anyone you saw us snogging? We haven't told my brother because we're worried about his reaction."

"Sure, we promise," they said at the same time.

The next day in Herbology, Celia, Ron, and Hermione were working at the same planter.

"So, you and Cedric, huh?" Ron said simply.

"Damn it!" Celia swore, "They said they wouldn't tell anyone. Can you promise not to tell anyone, Ron?"

"I can promise not to tell anyone else," Ron said sheepishly.

"So, you and Cedric, huh?" Harry said, leaning over from his planter.

"Yes! Who else knows?" Celia cried.

"Parvati! You will never guess what I heard from Ron Weasley!" Lavender shrieked as she ran towards her friend in the Gryffindor common room.

"What?" Parvati asked.

"Cedric Diggory was snogging in the Library with Celia Pace! The blonde Hufflepuff from out Herbology class!

"No!" Parvati cried.

"Yes!"

"Damn!"

"What's going on?" Seamus and Dean asked as they approached the two girls.

"Celia was snogging Cedric in the Library!" Parvati exclaimed.

"No!" the two boys shouted.

"Yes!" Parvati responded.

"Damn!"

"I know!"

On the other side of the common room, Fred and George were sitting talking to their best friend Lee Jordan.

"Guess who we saw snogging in the Library," Fred posed.

"Who?" Lee asked, eager for gossip that he could use in his Quidditch commentary.

"Cedric Diggory!" George answered.

"And?!"

"Celia Pace," Fred responded this time.

"Who?" Lee asked, unfamiliar with that name.

"4th year, blonde Hufflepuff, been hanging out with Harry, Hermione, and Ron," George explained.

"Oh, her. Wow," Lee responded calmly.

Alicia Spinnet walked by, prompting Lee to shout at her.

"Hey Alicia! Guess who the Hufflepuff captain's snogging?" Lee shouted, a phrase sure to catch any Quidditch player's, or rather any girl's attention. Alicia rushed over.

"Who?"

"Celia Pace, 4th year Hufflepuff," Lee parroted the information just given him to identify her.

"Oh, her! Her brother's a beater. Wow. Conflict. Maybe it'll interfere with their playing! I've got to tell Angelina!" Alicia cried as she rushed off to the girls dorm.

She ran into Angelina's dorm room, where she and Katie Bell sat talking quidditch strategy for the coming year.

"Angelina! Angelina! Guess who the twins saw snogging in the library!" Alicia shouted.

"Who?" the two girls inside the room asked.

"Cedric Diggory! Hufflepuff quidditch captain! And Celia Pace! Sister to Hufflepuff beater Aaron Pace!"

The girls squealed.

"No way! Lucky girl!" Katie squealed, temporarily forgetting her dislike of Cedric for beating Gryffindor one time last year.

"Alicia, are you thinking what I've thinking?" Angelina asked.

"That this will interfere with their playing? Yes!" Alicia responded.

"Oliver would have the perfect way to exploit this! I've got to go send him an owl!"

As she rushed to the owlery, she passed a growing number of people standing in the hall, talking about the exact same thing.

"Snogging! Celia and Cedric! In the Library!" Harry exclaimed.

"Oh, I'm so glad, she really fancies him," Cho sighed.

"You're sure?" Padma Patil, from Ravenclaw, asked.

"Yes! We've just heard it too!" Parvati and Dean approached the three of them, Parvati addressing the group.

"You know, I wonder if any of the Hufflepuffs know?" Dean inquired of the group.

But the Slytherins most certainly knew, for walking around the adjoining hallway, attracted by all the shouting, Draco was peering around the corner, and he went off to inform all of the Slytherins.

"Well, at any rate, I think I'm gonna tell Ernie," Dean said.

Dean tracked Ernie down in the corridor, and walked towards him, calling his name. Ernie turned around.

"Hey Dean. What's new?" he asked.

"Did you hear about Celia and Cedric?"

"What?" Ernie asked, taken aback.

"Well, apparently, Fred and George caught the two of them snogging in the library!" Dean exclaimed.

"No! I didn't hear that! I've got to tell Justin! Thanks Dean!" waving goodbye, he ran down to the Hufflepuff common room.

Ernie practically flew down the stairs into the basement, and nearly collided with Justin in the common room in his attempt to find him.

"Celia… Cedric… snogging… library… in the…" he pointed wildly Justin, Anna, and Susan sat him down on the couch so he could catch his breath. Finally, he explained clearly.

"Dean Thomas just told me that Fred and George caught Celia and Cedric snogging in the library!"

The girls and Justin let out dramatic gasps.

"No bloody way!" Justin cried.

"Are they together?" Susan asked.

"I don't know, all I know is that they were snogging," Ernie answered.

"Who was snogging?" Mick asked as he walked up to the back of the couch and peered down at them on it.

"Celia and Cedric, yesterday, in the library," Ernie answered.

"No effing way! That bitch! He told me he was studying! That's why he skived off our two on two-quidditch game! That bitch!" Mick shouted, quite angry.

"What are you shouting about, Mick?" asked a voice from behind him.

Mick didn't notice how Ernie, Justin, and Anna had disappeared, nor did he look to see who had asked the question before responding.

"Cedric's been ditching me to snog Celia in the library, and-" Mick did not finish his sentence. He looked around to see the voice was that of James, a 5th year Hufflepuff and friend of Aaron, who just happened to be standing next to him. Aaron's face was slowly reddening with anger.

Mick's mouth fell open, mid-sentence, before turning and running out of the common room.

At dinner that night, Mick sat himself carefully next to Cedric, who was in a cheerful mood. Mick broached the topic tentatively.

"Cedric?"

"Yeah?" Cedric responded.

"Um, so, have you and Celia told Aaron about your relationship yet?" Mick asked.

"No, we're mentioning it carefully before we go ahead and tell him."

"Because I think he already knows."

"What?!" Cedric shouted.

"Hey Cedric," said a voice to Cedric's right.

Cedric turned to see Aaron taking a seat next to him.

"Got a minute?" Aaron asked.

"Um, sure, what's up?" Cedric responded, his heart beating fast.

"I heard something interesting today, "Aaron's eyes flicked briefly to Mick, who looked quickly away, "and I was just wondering, you know, if it was true," Aaron said, frighteningly calm.

"Okay… shoot."

"Well, funnily enough," Aaron had an expression that indicated that he did not think it was funny at all, "I heard that, ah, you and Celia, were, ah, snogging in the library?"

"Ah, yeah, listen, Aaron," Cedric started.

"So is it true?" Aaron cut across.

Cedric inhaled deeply.

"Aaron, can we talk about this? Maybe somewhere different?" Cedric looked genuinely nervous as he cast a nervous look around the hall.

"No, I just wanted to know if it was true," Aaron replied.

"It's more than just snogging-"

"What?"

"No no! I mean, we've sort of been dating, I asked her to be my girlfriend, but, we didn't want to tell you yet, we thought you'd be, well, angry,"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm angry. I'm not really okay with this. I don't know how to react to this finding out through gossip that you two were snogging in the library. So, what I'm going to do is pretend that I never heard anything from him, "he pointed at Mick, who grinned sheepishly at Cedric, "and tomorrow, you and Celia are going to tell me you're dating, ask me for my blessing and approval, and hope we can all be civil about this. Have a good dinner."

Aaron rose and walked out of the Great Hall. After the shock and fear had subsided in Cedric, he rounded on Mick.

"You told him I was snogging his sister?!" Cedric shouted.

"I didn't mean to, you didn't tell me!" Mick replied.

"Don't make this my fault! Why the bloody hell did you have to go and tell him for?!" Cedric continued to drill into Mick.

"I didn't do it on purpose! If you had told me, I wouldn't have had to find out from Ernie McMillan. And how many times have you ditched me to snog her?"

"I said don't make this my fault!"


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: So Chapter 10! It was kind of cool to write with a French accent, and you'll see what I mean later in this chapter. I also bring in another Lost character, but to those of you who don't watch Lost, that won't mater, as I have said before to prevent confusion, it won't matter if you don't watch Lost, because I don't heed Lost canon at all, and it's not a crossover, I just am borrowing the characters. I don't think I have much else to add, so here it is!

Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine, except for Celia and Mick, in which case, they are.

* * *

Chapter 10:

How about six?

The next day, Celia marched over to the twins, very angry.

"What the bloody hell are you on about? You said you wouldn't tell anyone!" she shouted at them.

"Who, us?" George asked innocently.

Celia scowled at them, and they forgot their innocent faces.

"Alright, well, obviously it was us," Fred said, his voice bland at first, as if stating the obvious, "but you couldn't expect us to not tell Aaron, I mean, family doesn't keep secrets," Fred smiled, as if they were perfectly within their reason to do what they did.

"But you didn't tell Aaron! You told everyone but him and let the gossip just spread around Hogwarts!" she shouted, "And I'm family too! Shouldn't family keep family's secrets?" she asked.

George shrugged.

"Sorry Ceel, but all too soon you will learn that there are no secrets in the Weasley family."

"For instance," Fred began, grabbing Ron around the shoulders as Ron walked by and roping him into the conversation, "Ron wet the bed 'till he was thirteen," he said with a grin.

Ron's face turned bright red.

"Why did you tell her that? I thought we weren't going to tell anyone that!" Ron flushed.

"Sorry Ron," George replied again.

"But there are no secrets in the Weasley family," Fred finished.

It was surprisingly easier for Celia and Cedric once their relationship was out in the open and all of Hogwarts knew. They did not have to sneak around anymore, but they did still have to be careful how affectionate they were around Aaron; he still was none too thrilled with the idea of his quidditch team captain and close friend dating his little sister. So the next month was good, with the exception of a few passing arguments with Aaron.

Near the end of October, when Celia and the rest of her Hufflepuff friends were coming down the staircase for lunch from Transfiguration, they saw a sign posted at the foot of the staircase. It read:

Triwizard Tournament

"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving at 6 o'clock on Friday the 30th of October. Lessons will end half an hour early – students will return their bags and books to their dormitories and assemble in front of the castle to greet our guests before the Welcoming Feast."

As Celia and her friends made their way through the crowd, they saw Harry, Hermione, and Ron.

"Only a week away!" Ernie exclaimed, "I wonder, does Cedric know?" he looked at Celia. She shrugged.

"I don't know," she replied.

"Think we should tell him?" Ernie asked Celia.

"Yeah, I'll tell him at lunch if he hasn't seen it," she smiled.

"Cedric?" said Ron blankly.

"Diggory," Harry said, "I guess he's entering the tournament."

"That idiot, Hogwarts champion?" Ron scowled.

Celia, Ernie, Hannah, and Justin had joined Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Celia glared daggers at Ron, who blushed furiously.

"I mean, he'll do brilliantly! Good luck to him!" Ron hastened to add, just to get Celia and the rest of the Hufflepuffs, but mostly Celia, to stop giving him death glares.

Hermione and Harry shook their heads at Ron's desperate attempt to get himself out of the hole he dug himself into.

At lunch, Celia took her seat next to Cedric.

"So, did you see the sign they put up today?"

"No, what sign?"

"The sign in the Entrance Hall, about the Triwizard Tournament. It says that the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang are coming in a week," she explained.

"Excellent, the Tournament should be starting soon!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"So you're really going to enter?" she asked.

"Yeah, it sounds great," a grin spread slowly across his face as he realized something, "Are you worried about me?"

Celia blushed.

"Well, I mean, well, yeah," she smiled.

His grin grew even more.

"Don't be. I'll be fine," he put his arm around her.

"Just don't hurt your pretty face," she said jokingly, patting him on the side of his face.

The week passed quickly, and soon the students were leaving their classes to greet the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. The teachers were putting the students into lines, and they fidgeted impatiently in the cool evening air. Celia was standing next to Aaron.

"Do you think she'll come?" Celia asked Aaron.

"I would think so, I'm sure Danielle would practically insist on it. She's 17, so…" Aaron replied.

"Yeah, I suppose. I don't know, she hasn't mentioned it in any of her letters, I would have thought, you know, knowing her, she would be itching to talk about it…"

"Well, I guess we'll find out soon," Aaron replied, pointing at the sky, where a large… something was drawing closer to the castle.

Students were shouting guesses as to what the object might be that was flying towards them, until it drew close enough to tell that it was a very large horse-drawn carriage. It crashed to a landing, and as the students followed their Headmistress out of the carriage, Celia and Aaron craned their necks to see over the crowd to try to find who they were looking for. Finally Celia spotted her.

"There!" she nudged Aaron and pointed at a girl with long brown hair in the queue of students.

The pair of them waved, and as the girl passed, she saw them and waved energetically back.

The Beauxbatons students followed Madame Maxime into the Entrance Hall, while the Hogwarts students waited for the Durmstrang students.

Finally they arrived, and many of the students had such a reaction to Viktor Krum that Celia scoffed.

"Krum doesn't do it for you?" Cedric asked, moving away from his space in line that the teachers had put him at towards Celia and Aaron.

"No, I like you better," she smiled as Cedric put his arm around her. Aaron looked away uncomfortably.

Finally the Hogwarts students processed inside, and took their seats at their respective tables. The feast commenced. Once the feast was finished and Dumbledore had explained the remaining rules of the tournament, the large mass of people processed out into the Entrance Hall, Celia and Aaron especially eager to get to the Beauxbatons party. Out in the Entrance Hall, they, Cedric in tow, rushed over to the girl whom they had waved at when she arrived.

"Alex!" Celia cried, dropping Cedric's arm and throwing her arms around the girl. The girl shrieked with excitement when she saw Celia and Aaron, and once Celia let go of her, she hugged Aaron as well.

"Ceelia, Aaron, eet eez soo good to see you again, I only just got you lettair before we left, Ceelia" Alex spoke with a French accent.

"We've missed you! And you're here! You're 17! You're competing! You're mum must be thrilled!" Celia exclaimed.

"Yes, she eez vairy excited about zee competition. Of course, she was disappointed zat she could not compete when she was in school 'erself," Alex laughed. She spotted Cedric. "And 'oo eez zis?" she smiled at Celia, "eez zis…" her voice trailed off, a grin spreading across her face as she realized who he was.

Celia grinned.

"Yeah, this is Cedric," she blushed, "Cedric, this is Alex. Her mum and our parents are friends, so we've grown up together. She goes to Beauxbatons, obviously."

Aaron looked at Celia in a frustrated manor.

"Great, so you've told Alex, but you didn't bother to tell your own brother that you and Cedric were dating."

"Well, I 'ave known for a long while," Alex added.

"But what have you known? We've only been dating a few months now," Cedric asked, looking quizzical.

"Yes, but before zat, well, you should 'ave 'eard 'er talk about you last year, on and-"

"Alex, don't you have to go back to the carriage now?" Celia cut across quickly.

Alex smiled.

"Ahh, so 'ee does not know. Well, starting last year, Celia 'ad quite zee crush on you," she explained to a Cedric who looked rather pleased with himself.

"Did she now?" he responded, grinning ear to ear.

"Really think we ought to be off to bed," Celia said.

"Well, it was very nice talking to you, Alex," Cedric said, elated.

"Eet was nice to finally meet zee famous Cedreec Deegory. From what Ceelia 'as told me, I believe zat we will 'ave some classes togezzair. Maybe I will get to tell you more about Ceelia," Alex said, rather enjoying her playful torment of her friend.

"Please don't," Celia asked quietly.

"I am so 'appy to see you two again," she said, addressing Celia and Aaron, before pulling them both into a hug, "Good night."

Alex strode off onto the grounds towards the Beauxbatons carriage. Cedric looked extremely pleased with himself as the three of them headed towards the Hufflepuff common room. Aaron peeled away from them in search of his 5th year friends.

"So, you've liked me since last year, have you?" Cedric, still grinning widely, asked.

"Oh nooo, yes, please don't pick on me," she blushed.

"Why? I think it's sweet," he wrapped his arms around her as they stopped walking, standing in the basement corridor.

"What? That I talked about you incessantly last year?"

"Yes." He grinned. "I'll have you know that I have fancied you for quite some time."

"What, you mean starting two months ago?"

"How about six?"

Celia grinned.  
"Really? Did… does that mean you fancied me when I went on my date with Seamus?" she asked as they continued to walk again.

"Maybe," he replied, looking away, a smile on his face.

"Why Mr. Diggory, were you jealous?"

He looked at her.

"Only enough to make me want to hex him every time he walked by," he grinned.

The next day was Saturday, but Celia still got up relatively early, she and Hannah had wanted to watch people put their names in the Goblet. They made their way into the Entrance Hall, where they watched the Durmstrang students file in and submit their names. A short while after, more students came by to put their names in the Goblet. Cedric and Mick emerged from the stairway down to the basement, along with the rest of the 6th year boys. They pushed Cedric forward, shouting, "Go on!" and "Put it in!" Cedric drew a piece of parchment from his pocket and dropped it into the Goblet.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: I love the end of this chapter! I have had the end written for almost a year, and I LOVE IT! And keep it in mind as time progresses, nothing else will really happen this year, but I plan to keep the story going throughout all her time at Hogwarts, so that little feud might, (and by might, I mean will) come to a head in Celia's 5th year. Please R&R!

Disclaimer: The characters, with the exception of Celia and Mick, are not mine, they either belong to J.K. Rowling or the creators of Lost, and with the exception of Dumbledore's last line, they are all from the book. Also, the notice from last chapter was from the book too.

* * *

Chapter 11:

You Hit Like a Ponce

The next day was Sunday, and the day the Goblet would announce who the school champions were. So Celia and her friends and Cedric and Mick filed into the Great Hall at dinner and waited anxiously for the dinner to get over so the Goblet would make its decision. Dumbledore stood and announced the Goblet was about to make its decision. One by one, the pieces of parchment flew out of the Goblet, announcing the Durmstrang and then Beauxbatons champions, until a very still silence fell over the hall. The Hogwarts champion was next.

The Goblet's dancing flames turned red, and sparks flew out of it as the long flame shot up, and a piece of parchment fluttered from it. Dumbledore grabbed it from the air.

"The Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory!" Dumbledore exclaimed.

The Hufflepuff table erupted into loud screams.

Every one of them had leapt to their feet and was screaming and stamping their feet. Celia and Cedric looked at each other, shocked, and she kissed him. They pulled apart, and Cedric, grinning like an idiot, walked up to the chamber by the teachers' table.

Finally they tumult from the Hufflepuff table died down, and Dumbledore began to speak again.

"Excellent! Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon you all, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real-"

Dumbledore stopped talking, and every head in the Great Hall turned back to the Goblet of Fire. The flames had turned red once more, and when the flame shot out of the Goblet, Dumbledore reached out and grabbed the piece of parchment.

"Harry Potter."

Celia turned around to look at Harry where he sat at the Gryffindor table. Mick, who had been sitting on the other side of Cedric when he had left, caught Celia's eye when she turned, and he furrowed his eyebrows, which she did in reply, and squinted her eyes.

"Harry Potter! Harry! Up here, if you please!" Dumbledore called again.

Harry stood and began his walk up the hall, and many people started whispering. Mick looked at Celia and whispered, "Potter? What the hell?"

She shrugged her shoulders and mouthed, "I don't know."

Harry passed through the door that Cedric had just walked through. The whispering in the hall grew even louder. Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"Well, it seems that we now have four champions. As I was saying, I hope you can all properly cheer your champion, or champions, for Hogwarts students, on, and you will take part in a very real, legendary event. And as I am sure that you will all want to ready yourselves to congratulate your champion, I will bid you all goodnight," Dumbledore concluded.

The whispering grew into a roar as people were allowed to speak freely as the students exited the Great Hall. Celia was not quite sure how to react to the whole situation. Celia, Mick, Hannah, Ernie, Justin, and the rest of their friends continued their way down to the basement.

"Alright, so, I think that we need to get a party started," Mick stated, rubbing his hands together, "And since you guys are here, I'm going to make you help he. I need you guys to come with me, just a little detour," Mick directed the group once they got down the basement stairs, not in the direction of the Hufflepuff common room, but in the opposite direction.

"Mick, where are we going?" Hannah asked.

"Right here," Mick said, and they stopped in front of a painting of a bowl of fruit. Reaching up his left hand, he scratched the pear, which, to Celia's surprise, giggled, then turned into a giant doorknob.

"Right this way," Mick said, bowing jokingly to the group of 4th years as he opened the door and ushered them in.

Immediately 4 or 5 house elves rushed up to the party, asking them how they could help them. Justin, having come from a muggle family and had never seen a house elf, looked very confused.

"Guys, what are these?" he whispered quietly.

"They're house elves," Ernie explained, "They serve wizard families."

Mick, who had directed the house elves in how they could help him, was now carrying armfuls of various foods, and shoved armfuls at each person, directing them to take it back to the common room.

Heavy laden with the food given them by the kitchen house elves, the group of 7 made their way down the corridor to the Hufflepuff common room.

The gargoyle standing in front of it moved aside, and as they entered the common room, they heard the rest of the Hufflepuffs shout excitedly, expecting to see Cedric. However, seeing several of their peers with armfuls of food, they were just as excited.

Several minutes later, Cedric arrived, to levels of applause that were, if possible, louder than the ones the rest of the Great Hall had been subject to at dinner. Immediately he found Celia, and swept her into a dramatic kiss.

The next few days Celia didn't know how to feel about the tournament. She was very excited for Cedric, yes, but she could not help but feel a slight sense of foreboding about the whole situation. So she started to do research about the Triwizard Tournament. And Celia was not the only one. Hermione was very nervous, for Harry of course, but she felt for Celia, she knew she was just as nervous. So Celia and Hermione spent many spare hours in the library together, researching the Triwizard Tournament.

Celia had not let the fact that Harry's name had come out of the Goblet affect her friendship with any of the other Gryffindors. Of course, her relationship with Harry himself was rather strained, she felt bad that she was being so distant to him, but at the same time, she did not know how she could support both Harry and Cedric. One of the days in the library, she mentioned this to Hermione, who sympathized.

"I understand," Hermione said gently, "And Harry, on some level, I'm sure understands. But he feels as if all of Hogwarts believes that he did this on purpose. Oh dear Lord, look at this one! In 1752 the Durmstrang champion was hospitalized when the Dementor he was supposed to be fighting off nearly finished him off!" Hermione exclaimed as she pushed a book towards Celia.

Very soon after that, a pair of redheaded twins approached the pair of girls reading diligently.

"What are you reading?" Fred said, sitting down next to Celia and peering over her shoulder at the book. George mirrored his actions sitting down next to Hermione.

"We're looking up past Triwizard Tournaments. Doing a bit of research," Celia said.

"Ah, yes, I find that a spot of morbid history always makes my afternoon better, don't you, George?" Fred remarked.

"Why yes, my dear brother. Hermione, what do you have here?" George pulled the book out of Hermione's hands.

"It says here that in 1457, the Hogwarts champion was killed when he had to battle a graphorn. Now, Hermione, why would you want to read about this?" George inquired, waving the book around.

"We don't want to read how they died, we wanted to know what to expect from the tasks," Hermione said impatiently, taking her book back.

"Well, still, you two are just going to get all nervous, worrying about the pair of them, so let's get out of here," Fred said, he and George shepherding Hermione and Celia out of the library before they could protest.

The four walked out of the Library, and ran into Cedric and Mick.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" Celia asked.

"Coming to find you," Cedric said.

Mick shrugged.  
"I was bored," he stated simply.

The group of six ambled down the corridor for want of something to do.

Cedric was on Celia's right, and the rest of the group was of Celia's left. Celia intertwined her hand with Cedric's as they walked.

As they were walking, they say a group of raucous seventh year Slytherins walking towards them, a burly boy named Cassius Warrington at the head. He was talking loudly to his friend nearest him.

"Honestly, a Hufflepuff as our champion! Granted, he's better than Potter, but still!" Warrington exclaimed loudly.

Celia cast a nervous look at Cedric; his jaw was set and he seemed determined to ignore Warrington. Mick, Fred, and George looked very irritated, and Hermione looked as nervous as Celia felt.

Warrington's friend spoke next.

"Yeah," his friend replied, laughing, "his girlfriend's hot though."

The group of Slytherins laughed. Celia felt Cedric's grip on her hand tighten.

"That she is," Warrington remarked, "I don't know how he could date her, though, her being a half-blood."

The group of Slytherins laughed again. Celia felt herself flush slightly. Cedric's grip on Celia's hand tightened even more. The rest of their group was clearly irritated by the blatant disregard of respect in their comments, and they could tell the Slytherins were saying it hoping to get a reaction out of someone. The Slytherins drew level with their group.  
"I mean, I would probably shag her, but…"

The Slytherins erupted into raucous laughter, and as Warrington finished his sentence, Cedric, dropping Celia's hand, turned around and punched Warrington in the face.

Celia and Hermione screamed.

"Cedric!" Celia screamed.

Mick started shouting and encouraging Cedric, jumping up and down, swearing and shouting, "Hit him again! Hit him again!" The Slytherins were jeering and shouting. Fred and George were throwing insults at the Slytherins, egging them on. Hermione, like Celia, looked terrified.

Warrington threw a punch at Cedric, which Cedric ducked. Cedric hit Warrington in the nose, which started bleeding. Warrington threw another punch at Cedric, which hit him in the mouth. Celia screamed again, and reached out to grab Cedric's arms.

"Cedric! Cedric, stop!" Celia cried.

Cedric, pacified by Celia's touch, backed away a few paces. Warrington backed away as well, his hand to his nose, which was still bleeding. Cedric felt his lip.  
"You hit like a ponce," Cedric spat.

He turned and walked away, Celia and the small band of their friends hurrying after him.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: I don't have much to say about this chapter, it's just sort of a lead-in to bigger things coming soon.

Disclaimer: All characters, with the exception of Celia and Mick, are the invention of J.K. Rowling, except for Lyra, who is the character of silverlastsforever.

* * *

Chapter 12:

Polish Your Wand?

Celia and Cedric were sitting in the Hufflepuff common room. Celia was looking at Cedric's slightly swollen lip. She shook her head.

"What did you do that for?" Celia asked quietly, his chin in her hand, as she looked at his lip.

"You heard what he was saying, Celia. I couldn't let him get away with that," Cedric whispered.

For the next few days, other matters preoccupied Celia's mind. Celia felt bad about how she treated Harry. Since her conversation with Hermione in the library, she realized how much Harry needed a friend. So, on her way to Charms, when she saw Harry and Hermione in the corridor, she quickened her pace to catch up with them.

"Hi Harry," she smiled, "hi Hermione."

Harry looked around, thunderstruck that she was talking to him. Hermione smiled at her.

"Um, hey, Celia," Harry said, apprehensively.

"Listen Harry, I just want you to know that I believe you. I believe you didn't enter the competition."

"You… you do?" Harry asked, shocked.

"Yeah, Hermione and I have been doing research on the Triwizard Tournament, and I figure you would have to be a complete idiot or have a psychotic death wish to enter yourself, plus it would have been really difficult to get your name to come out of the Goblet," she paused, "I'm sorry I've been so distant. But I figure Ron's not talking to you, and you could use a friend, so I figure the least I could do is give you the benefit of the doubt. Sorry Harry."

Harry smiled.

"Thanks, Celia, that means a lot," Harry grinned widely, and he hugged her.

She smiled.

"Great, well, I have Charms, but I'll see you two later," she waved, and turned down the corridor to the right.

In Charms, she sat down next to Hannah. Lyra then came and sat down next to Celia.

"Hi Celia," Lyra grinned. The three had little time to talk before Professor Flitwick started the class.

That day they were continuing their work on summoning charms, so it was good cover to talk under, which Lyra took full advantage of a few minutes into the class, leaning over to talk to Celia.

"I heard about Cedric's fight," Lyra whispered.

Celia blushed.

"Really?"

"Yeah, don't worry about Warrington, he's all talk," Lyra scoffed.

Celia smiled.

"Well, that makes me feel a little better."

Lyra, after reassuring Celia, changed the topic.

"So, do you know Blaise Zabini?" Lyra asked.

"Um, yeah, yeah, I do," Celia responded.

"What do you think of him?" Lyra pressed.

"He's a nice kid, or, he was in second year. I haven't talked to him since then. Why? Do you fancy him?" Celia asked.

"Well, I don't know, but I think he likes me," Lyra said, "anyway, he's funny, I wondered if you knew him."  
"Yeah, we used to be friends. But if you're going to pursue him, I'll tell you this, watch out for Millicent Bulstrode. Because if she finds out he likes you she will make your life hell," Celia warned.

"Thanks. I think I can take her," Lyra grinned maliciously. Celia laughed.

Harry and Hermione had proceeded to Potions, when Colin Creevey had been sent to collect Harry for the Weighing of the Wands ceremony. Harry, happy that he would not be poisoned that day, and that Celia had forgiven him, left with no complaints. Harry, after being heckled by Rita Skeeter, took his seat in the proceedings next to Cedric. The Weighing of the Wands Ceremony commenced, and when Olivander called Cedric up to him, Cedric stood up on Harry's right as Fleur sat beck down on his left. Cedric passed his wand to Olivander.

"You treat it regularly?" Olivander asked.

"Polished it last night," Cedric said grinning. Harry couldn't help smirking. A moment later, Cedric sat back down in his chair to the right of Harry. Knowing that Celia had forgiven him, Harry couldn't resist taking a cheap shot at Cedric.

"Did Celia polish your wand last night, Cedric?" Harry whispered in a joking voice, smirking.

Cedric's gaze shifted around the room to make sure no one was listening then frowned.

"Shut up," he hissed.

Harry laughed quietly.

"I'll take that as a no."


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Chapter 13. I always said, to my friends who knew all my plans for this story, that everything happens in November. Or rather, a whole mess of stuff happens in November. Anyway, it's November. In the story, that is. And this is when a whole mess of stuff starts happening. Well, technically, "You Hit Like a Ponce," was when everything started happening. But I digress. Here's chapter 13.

Disclaimer: The characters, with the exception of Celia, Mick, and Lyra, are J.K. Rowling's. And Lyra is silverlastsforever's character.

* * *

Chapter 13:

Now I'm Interested

Draco and Blaise burst into the Slytherin common room, panting and exhausted, since Draco had just chased Blaise down the corridor. The pair of them collapsed into a set of chairs next to the fireplace.

"So, now that I have thoroughly embarrassed you, who is this Lyra girl?" Blaise panted.

"She's an annoying, American, Gryffindor-loving twit," Draco replied bitterly.

"Gryffindor-loving?" Blaise asked.

"She prefers the company of that wretched house to that of her fellow Slytherins."

"So much for adding her to my list then," Blaise shrugged, "Oh well, I still like her. But I'll let you brood," Blaise stood up and left, leaving a scowling Draco sitting by himself, although not for long.

"I don't like that Lyra girl," came a female voice from behind him.

"I don't either, but why should I care what you think?" Draco spat, not bothering to turn around to see who was addressing him.

"Because I want to work with you. To take that American tart down," the girl's voice retorted.

"Well, now I'm interested," Draco turned in his seat, and saw Millicent Bulstrode standing over him, "What do you have in mind?" he grinned, a gleam in his silver eyes.

"In a few weeks, your antidotes should be finished, and I will most likely be testing yours. So make sure they are properly prepared. In the mean time, we will continue on with…"

Snape's voice droned on as the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws scribbled notes onto parchment. Celia had finished copying down the ingredients for a shrinking potion when a piece of folded pink parchment dropped onto her desk. She frowned at it and held it in her lap as she unfurled it, so Professor Snape would not see it.

She gasped when she read the note. She couldn't believe it. And by "She couldn't believe it," she did not mean, wow, this is shocking, I did not expect this, she meant, there is no way this is true.

Everywhere she went in the castle, she heard quotes from the letter, students rattling off quotes like Rita Skeeter's articles. Hopefully she did not catch wind of this; Celia was already expecting a nasty article soon about the Triwizard Tournament. But this letter circulating school, Celia could tell, was going to do quite a bit of damage. Walking from class to class, she heard students quoting loudly, "His eyes are so perfectly green,"

"What should I do, Tabby?"

"His accent is absolutely gorgeous,"

"I think I like him, he's so mature and kind."

The rumors were spiraling out of control. By the time she sat down in Charms class she was ready for a bit of clarification.

And she could tell that the letter had indeed spread around the whole school. Lyra was flustered, her face a permanent blushing red.

"Lyra?" Celia crooned softly, not wanting to upset or offend her further.

Lyra turned to face her.

"What?" she whispered hoarsely.

"Did you write that letter?" Celia asked calmly.

Lyra's eyes grew wide, and she shook her head.

"No. No one believes me, but I didn't write that letter, Celia-"

"I know. I believe you. I saw it and thought it was utterly absurd," Celia shook her head.

Lyra sighed.

"Well, at least someone believes me. Too bad the rest of the school doesn't. You should hear the awful things everyone's saying to me. The Slytherins never liked me, they're tormenting me as usual, but the Ravenclaws, well, I never really spoke to any of them, but they're so rude to me, saying horrible things, like I need to keep away from Harry, and stop trying to ruin things with him and Cho-"

"Harry and Cho!" Celia cried, issuing a shushing from Professor Flitwick. Celia whispered.

"Oh no! Cho has a tendency to blow things way out of proportion! I wonder how she will react!"

Lyra sighed.

"Well, when she shouted at me in the hall, she didn't seem too happy."

Celia gasped and put her face in her hands.

"Oh no! She knows already?"

That night at dinner, whispers issued from every table. At one of the tables nearest to her, the Gryffindors were harassing Harry about the letter. She heard mainly whispered questions, inquiring whispered questions as to whether or not he knew about it.

"Did you know she liked you?"  
"What are you going to do?"

"Does Cho know? What about Cho?"

"Do you even know this Lyra girl?"

The Slytherin table was buzzing with excitement, half of them proud of the stir they had caused, and the other half creating more rumors about the situation at hand. The Hufflepuff table, Hufflepuffs being natural gossips, were spreading and discussing the rumors spread.

The quietest table was the most frightening in their reaction: the Ravenclaw table. They were unnaturally silent. Of course, the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw house were the most faithful houses; they took care of their own. Doubtlessly, they were all steaming about this letter. Cho, looking dangerously furious, rose from the table and exited the hall. At the other table next to her, Celia saw Harry follow her out. Celia thought maybe, just maybe, she could intervene before they had a huge fight. Celia scuttled out of the Great Hall, only to see that she was too late.

Cho was standing a few steps above Harry on the marble staircase, livid, bright red, and shouting. Harry looked upset, terrified, and angry all at the same time.

"Lyra?! That American tart?!"

"I have no idea what that letter was about!"

"It was pretty clear what that damned letter was about!"

"I've barely spoken to her! Maybe twice since she got here!"

"Oh really! You would have thought otherwise, reading that bloody letter!"

"What are you on about? You're acting ridiculous!"

"Oh, so I'm acting ridiculous, but the way she talks about you in that letter, and the way she throws herself on you-"  
"What the hell are you talking about? She never threw herself on me!"

"Like you would admit it!" Cho shouted, then turned around and began her ascent.

"Cho wait!" Harry called after her, exhausted and flustered. Cho spun around.

"Piss off!" Cho screamed, and stomped up the stairs.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: One of my friends who reads my stories, one of my "muses," as I call them, because when I'm stuck they'll talk through the plotline with me and help me figure stuff out, anyway, one of my friends is furious with… well, I won't spoil anything, but is furious with what is said at the end of the chapter. I talk about this chapter, and she gets really mad at… the person who says the things. On the other hand, witchdivasirenqueen loves it. I believe her exact words were "YES! Drama!" Anyway, I'll let you guys read.

Disclaimer: The characters, except for Celia, belong to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

Chapter 14:

A Fair Person

The next day was Friday, so the thought of the upcoming weekend soothed Celia's nervous mind. Of course, all the students lived together in one castle, so they couldn't avoid each other long, but they would not have the stress and distraction of lessons on their minds.

She was, of course, talking about Harry and Cho. If students hadn't heard Cho shouting in person, they had heard what she had shouted; news of Harry and Cho's fight spread like wildfire.

Celia was, and she would never admit it to anyone who asked, not that they would, taking Harry's side in the whole fiasco. She knew Cho her entire life at Hogwarts, and knew that Cho had the tendency to blow things out of proportion. And Cho wouldn't listen to Harry when he tried to apologize or explain to her that he had barely spoken to Lyra, nor would she listen to Celia when she tried to tell her that Lyra had not even written the letter. Celia had tried that once, and from the reaction it elicited from Cho, she was not eager to try it again.

Celia was walking down the hall on Friday, on her way to Magical Maladies, mulling over the situation and trying to decide what her next move would be, when a call came from behind her.

"Hey Pace!" an unfamiliar voice barked from behind her.

She turned to see, to her surprise, Draco Malfoy and some of his cronies sauntering towards her. She furrowed her eyebrows, wondering what the hell he could want.

"What, Malfoy?"

"I just thought you might want one of these," Draco stated simply, holding out what appeared to be a button. Celia's eyebrows remained furrowed as she raised them. She noticed that all of the Slytherins appeared to be wearing the buttons.

"I thought you would want one to support your boyfriend. You know, I offered one to Granger, but she didn't want one. How strange," Draco remarked.

Celia looked closely at the button. It said "Support Cedric Diggory, the Real Hogwarts Champion."

"And that's not all!" Draco exclaimed, noticing Celia looking at the button, "Look at what else it does!"  
Draco and the rest of the Slytherins pressed their buttons, which changed color, and now read "Potter Stinks!"

"Anyway, all the Hufflepuffs are wearing them. Showing their house support. Do you want one? We have loads!" Draco cried.

"No thanks, Malfoy. I think I'll be polite about this whole thing," she stated simply. Draco nodded.

"You're a fair person. I don't like that. Won't Cedric be disappointed?"  
"Cedric is actually being really fair about this. He won't be wearing one of your silly buttons."

"Think again," Draco pointed.

Cedric, Mick, and some of their 6th year friends walked by. Cedric smiled. All of Cedric's friends were wearing buttons, Mick's displayed proudly on his lapel. Celia also saw a button sticking out of Cedric's bag. Draco smirked as Celia gasped and ran towards Cedric, having done his job.

"Cedric!" Celia called after him.

"Hey!" Cedric exclaimed, turning around. He walked towards her and pulled her close. She, however, reached into his bag and pulled out the button, holding it up.

"Oh yeah. Mick gave it to me. I didn't have something to do with it, so I just stuck it in my bag," he explained.

"You know I'm friends with Harry."

"If it bothers you, I'll get rid of it," he smiled.

She smiled back and kissed him softly.

"Thank you."

However, not everyone was as willing to get rid of the buttons. She saw that all of the other Hufflepuffs were, in fact, wearing the buttons. It was not a good week for Harry.

That's why, when Harry left dinner early that night, and looked an absolute mess, Celia followed him out of the Great Hall.

"Harry!" she called after him.

Harry turned around. His mournful expression caused Celia to just rush up to him and hug him, she felt so bad for him.

"Oh my gosh, Harry, come with me," she said in a hushed tone, before pushing him off to the library.

Once in the library, Harry told Celia everything that his mind was going through at that point in time. Celia was surprised that he was as upset by this as he was.

"Listen, I know Cho, and while it's really unfortunate that you have to go through with this, it's not out of character for her. She gets jealous really easily. So if you wait a while, this whole thing will probably blow over," she said softly. She was sitting cross-legged in an aisle of the library, Harry sitting in the same position across from her.

"But I don't want to wait for this to blow over."

"I never realized that you were so emotional, Harry."

"Well, the boy who lived has to act macho, now doesn't he?"

The next day Cedric was walking down a corridor when he heard his name being called. He turned to see Harry and Hermione walking towards him down the corridor. He smiled at them, stopped walking, and waited for them to catch up with him.

"Hey Harry, Hermione," he greeted them jovially.

"Hey. Listen, Cedric, can you tell Celia thanks for last night?" Harry asked, blushing slightly.

"What?" Cedric raised an eyebrow. Hermione inhaled deeply, knowing that did not sound fantastic.

"Well, you know, Cho and I have been fighting-" he shrugged.

"What?" Cedric asked again.

"So Celia stayed up all night with me in the library. Anyway, I really appreciate what she did for me last night,"

"Oh no," Hermione breathed softly, and put her face in her hands.

Cedric, at this point, did not look too thrilled. In fact, Cedric had a look on his face that was a mixture of a glare and a look that said he was about to punch Harry in the face. Harry didn't know what was going on. Hermione shook her head that was still in her hands.

"And what exactly did she do for you?" Cedric asked, acid in his voice.

"Well, she-" Harry began.

"Hey guys! What's going on?" Celia asked as she walked up to them.

"I don't know." He said, still looking at Harry, "I was wondering the same thing," he looked at her and raised his eyebrows in a way to indicate that she had something to tell him. She looked up at him, confused.

"What are you talking about?" Celia asked.

"You know what? Never mind. Ask Harry," he said briskly and walked off. She looked after him, hurt and confused before rounding on Harry.

"What did you do?" she exclaimed.

"What? I didn't do anything!" Harry cried.

"Yes you did," Hermione cut in, removing her face from her hands and looking at Celia, "Celia, he asked Cedric to "Thank you for last night," he was talking about you just talking to him and comforting, but he had also said some other stuff, and Cedric took it the wrong way."

"What 'other stuff'?" Celia looked very cross with Harry.

"Well, things like 'Cho and I have been fighting,' 'Celia stayed up all night with me,' 'I appreciate what she did for me,' things like that."

"Oh God, Harry! I can't believe… what?" Celia cried.

"Well, sure, if you say it like that," Harry said sheepishly.

"That's how you said it!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Damn it," Celia breathed before rushing off down the corridor after Cedric. Eventually she caught up with him in a deserted corridor.

"Cedric! Cedric, wait up!" she called after him.

She caught up with him, but he kept walking, so she did too.

"Cedric, it's not what it sounds like," Celia began.

"I really don't want to talk right now," he said shortly.

"Cedric, honestly, listen to me, it came out wrong, but-"

"I really don't want to talk to you right now, Celia."

Celia's steps faltered, but then regained her pace, trying to persuade him to listen to her.

"Cedric, it's really not what it sounds like-"  
Cedric stopped walking and turned to face her.

"What the hell Celia? What the bloody hell? What the f- what were you doing with Harry? Honestly. I didn't think you would, I thought you… but I guess any thing's possible with the boy who lived."

He turned and kept walking, but think time, Celia did not follow him.

She looked after him, hurt, tears gathering in her eyes, before she walked the opposite way down the corridor. Cedric stopped walking when he heard her footsteps, and turned to see her walking away. He sighed, ran his fingers through his hair, and resumed walking.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: So here's the resolution you all have, hopefully, been waiting for. If you guys still aren't happy with Cedric at the end of this chapter, tell me, and how he can redeem himself, and I'll see if I can fix that. After all, I don't want you mad at one of the main characters. So without further ado, chapter 15.

Disclaimer: The characters, except for Celia and Mick, belong to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

Chapter 15:

More Good News

"So you think… that Celia… is sleeping with Harry Potter?" Mick smiled.

"Well, I didn't say it was a rational thought, but-" Cedric began, flustered.

Mick cut across him by bursting into raucous laughter.

"Shut up!" Cedric shouted.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Mick inquired loudly, "Lets talk about all the reasons why you're wrong. 1) Celia wouldn't be banging Harry Potter. 2) Um, they're friends, stupid. Even I know that. 3) If he was banging your girlfriend, HE WOULDN'T TELL YOU. And 4) if, for some crazy reason that they were sleeping together, and he got it in his head to tell you to thank her for it, he wouldn't do it in front of Hermione. Seriously, dude, this has to be the stupidest thing you've ever said, and you've said some stupid stuff,"

"Thanks, mate," Cedric said miserably.

Mick made a mock apologetic face at him and moved over to sit next to Cedric on his bed, and slug his arm around him.

"Aw, did I hurt your feelings. I sorry," Mick said in a mock baby tone.

Cedric shoved him violently.

"Shut up. You know how awful I feel about this? And you're not helping."

A sincere look crossed Mick's face.

"Hey dude, look, I'm sorry, I was just joking-"

"Whatever," Cedric frowned.

Mick soon left Cedric to his own devices as he moved around the dorm room, trying to find something to do without leaving Cedric alone. In the silence, Cedric succumbed to an even deeper level of sorrow. He placed his head in his hands.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid_, the one word mantra repeated in his head. _Why is Mick somehow always right? That was the stupidest thing I think I've ever done, although, I think he's wrong about me doing a lot of stupid stuff. There's no way she's going to forgive me. What I said was awful. Absolutely awful. I wouldn't forgive myself. What on earth possessed me to say that?_ His eyes slowly started to fill with tears, and a tear leaked out of one eye. Mick looked over at him.

"Dude, are you crying?" Mick asked incredulously.

"No," Cedric retorted, wiping his eye hastily as he moved his hands away from his face, "shut up."

"Sorry," Mick responded, sincere once again.

Harry felt really awful for what had happened. He looked over at the Hufflepuff table, to try and find Celia. She was sitting next to Hannah, her eyes red. She was staring down at her plate of untouched food. Harry could tell she had been crying. Harry then looked up and down the table for Cedric, and saw him sitting a few seats away next to his friend Mick Cooper, who was talking animatedly. Cedric looked rather sad, and kept casting looks down the table at Celia.

"I feel really awful about what happened," Harry said to no one in particular.

"Well, you should, it's your fault," Hermione said without looking up from her plate.

"Thanks Hermione. Definitely what I wanted to hear."

"Are you two talking about Celia and Cedric?" Dean said, leaning into the conversation, "Hannah said that they had a fight and now they aren't talking. Celia's been upset all day."

"Great, more good news," Harry said sarcastically.

Harry looked back over at the Hufflepuff table. Celia stood up and left the Great Hall. Cedric watched her go, a sad look in his eyes, and stood up to go as well.

"I need to go talk to him," Harry announced to the people surrounding him.

He stood and followed Cedric out of the hall. When Cedric had almost reached the door leading to the basement, Harry called his name. Cedric wheeled around to see who was calling him. When he saw Harry, the look on his face held nothing but disdain.

"I really don't want to talk to you right now Potter."

"Cedric, listen to me. Nothing happened. Cho and I have been fighting, and she made me feel a lot better. We talked. That was all," Harry implored.

After a minute of Cedric staring at Harry, he nodded.

"Yeah, I kind of figured."

"Are you guys still fighting?" Harry asked tentatively.

"Yes," Cedric said angrily. Then, realizing the anger in his voice, his face saddened, and he nodded, "yeah," he whispered.

"I'm… I'm really sorry, Cedric.

Cedric nodded.

"So am I," he said, turned and walked down the basement steps.

Celia was sitting on the couch in the common room, staring into the fire. She heard the stone gargoyle outside the common room scrape on the stone floor as it moved to the side. She turned to see Cedric walk into the common room. Cedric walked over to her and sat down next to her.

"Can we talk?" he asked quietly.

"I thought you didn't want to talk," she responded, her voice shaky.

"I'm," he whispered, shaking his head, "I'm so sorry. I really have no explanation for why I thought that, nor did I have a reason to. And I really feel horrible, I felt absolutely awful after I said… what I said. I just… I'm so sorry."

Her vision grew blurry and she looked away, not wanting him to se her cry. She tried to stem the flow of tears gathering in her eyes. Cedric reached up and gingerly pulled her hands away and brushed away the tears. She looked at him; a few tears were sliding down from his grey eyes. She reached up and brushed them away. She leaned against him, and he encircled her with his arms.

"I forgive you."


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Okay, so I hope you were all satisfied with the end of chapter 15. I know I was. I've had their fight scene planned for a really long time, about as long as I've had "You Hit Like a Ponce," written, or at least the fight in that chapter. Chapter 16 is a bit of a setting-up chapter; some of the stuff mentioned in chapter 16 will crop up later, some soon, some really later. However, I'm not going to tell you which bits. laughs maniacally Anyway, I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: The characters, with the exception of Celia and Mick, are the creation of J.K. Rowling.

* * *

Chapter 16:

Why Are You Staring at My Girlfriend

Celia, Cedric, and Aaron were walking around outside a few days later with a few of their friends, Aaron accompanying them albeit a bit grudgingly. Walking by the lake, the group compared ideas about the upcoming task until Celia insisted they stop. She was nervous. She was also fairly certain that Cedric was nervous, but he would not admit it. Celia instead started to unfurl and read the letter that had arrived from her mother that morning at breakfast.

"Cedric, sorry, but mum wants a picture of us. Actually, she wants all of my family to have a picture of us, but she says she wants it," Celia smiled.

Cedric grinned and wrapped his arm around Celia's waist as she fished a camera out of her bag.

"Aaron, you're in the frame," Justin said, looking through the lens.

"Oh, sorry," Aaron stood and made a motion to step to the side.

"No, Aaron, come here," Celia said, grabbing Aaron by the crook of his elbow and pulling him back into the frame. The three smiled at the camera, Aaron a bit sheepishly, wishing to be anywhere but his present position. He wasn't a big fan of getting his picture taken.

"There you go Celia, fantastic," Justin handed Celia her camera.

"Thanks, Justin," she grinned.

The group continued to walk as Celia finished the letter.

"'Bit of a pity about that Daily Prophet article, but it's Rita Skeeter, so by no means should anyone take anything she says into account,'" Celia quoted her mother's letter, "what does that mean? What article?"

She looked around at her friends until one of them had the insight to get out that days copy of the Daily Prophet. As soon as Ernie turned the Prophet to the appropriate page, Mick snatched it out of his hands and read aloud.

"I suppose I get my strength from my parents," Mick began in an overly dramatic tone, "I know they'd be very proud of me if they could see me now… Yes sometimes at night I still cry about them, I'm not ashamed to admit it,' I'm a bit ashamed he admitted it," Mick commented in his real voice, " I know nothing will hurt me during the tournament, because they're watching over me…' well, someone's a bit confident," Mick scoffed, "Oh, get a load of this! 'Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts. His close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of one Hermione Granger, a stunningly pretty Muggle-born girl,'"

At this Celia let out a loud laugh.

"Harry and Hermione? Clearly this woman is insane. This article has no credibility."

But her words were ignored, because the Hufflepuffs were too angry at the fact that their own champion went unmentioned. Krum and Fleur had barely made it into the article, and Cedric was not in it at all. Cedric asked them to not make a big deal out of it, and that it was not important. His words were ignored too. The Hufflepuffs merely used this article as further ammunition.

Later that night, Celia, Hannah, Cedric, and Mick were sitting at a table in the Hufflepuff common room. The former three were working on homework, while Mick was leaning back in his chair, feet on the table. Celia was deep in thought pouring over a Potions essay, looking from the book to her parchment with her half-completed assignment. She was deep in thought about what to say and how to phrase it next. She stared down at her book, thinking. She inadvertently stuck her tongue in the side of her mouth, a habit of hers when she concentrated. Mick looked up from the quill he was balancing on his nose at Celia. His mouth dropped open. He hit Cedric on the arm.

"What?" Cedric whispered, still looking at his homework.

"Dude," Mick said, sitting upright in his seat.

"What?!" Cedric hissed.

"Look!"

"At what?"

"At Celia!" Mick pointed at Celia.

"What?"

"Look!"

"Why are you staring at my girlfriend?"

"Just look!"

The pair looked over at Celia, who had, a moment before, removed her tongue from the side of her cheek and was scratching a sentence onto the piece of parchment. Mick sighed exhasporatedly, and Cedric looked at him, confused, then returned to his homework. A few minutes later, Celia, looking at her book again, stuck her tongue back in the side of her check. Mick had been stealing glances at her to see of she did it again, and hit Cedric rapidly on the side on his arm.

"What?!" Cedric hissed, quite irritated.

Mick merely pointed at Celia.

"Look!"

The two looked at Celia. Cedric's mouth fell open a few centimeters. She absentmindedly moved her tongue around in the side of her mouth. If possible, Cedric and Mick's eyes grew even wider. Mick looked at Cedric to see how he was reacting when he noticed a trickle of blood sliding from Cedric's nose.

"Uh, dude," Mick chuckled, "your nose is bleeding."

"Wha…," Cedric felt his nose, "what?"

Celia looked up from her homework.

"Are you okay, Cedric?"

"Nothing you couldn't fix," Mick said, more to himself than anyone else. Nonetheless, everyone else still heard him. Cedric elbowed him.

"Shut up."

Cedric stood and walked to his dorm, Mick following him, laughing. In his room, Cedric continued to staunch the flow of blood coming from his nose. Cedric tilted his head back.

"What, disappointed that wasn't you?" Mick asked.

"Shut up," Cedric responded nasally.

"Aw, you're just disappointed you're not getting any," Mick said in a mock-caring tone.

"Shut it!"

"But you know, Cedric, there's one all-important question in situations like these," Mick said seriously.

Cedric took a deep breath.

"What?"

"Spits or swallows?"

Cedric shoved him with the arm that was not pinching his nose.

"Seriously, it's an important question to know," Mick stated as if this were perfectly obvious.

"Shut up, Mick, that's not funny. Don't talk about her like that," Cedric glared at him.

Mick shrugged.

A day later, Celia, Fred, and George were walking and talking, the three of them on their way to their next classes.

"So, the strangest thing happened the other day. Cedric, out of nowhere, got a nosebleed, and Mick started making fun of him, and I asked Cedric if he was okay, and Mick said 'it's nothing you can't fix,' What does he mean?"

The twins looked at each other, smirked, and looked at her.

"What exactly were you, you know, doing when Cedric got his nosebleed?" Fred asked tentatively.

"Well, we were in the Hufflepuff common room, working on homework and studying."

The twins grinned.

"Celia, are you aware of what you do when you… concentrate?" George asked this time.

Celia shook her head.

"You stick your tongue in the side of your mouth. It looks really phallic," Fred explained, grinning. Celia gasped.

"No!"

"Yes," George answered.

"Really?"

"Yes," Fred and George answered in unison.

"Why did no one ever tell me?" Celia asked.

"Never thought about it. Thought it was kind of funny," Fred said with a chuckle.

"Wait, what does that have to do with Cedric's nosebleed?" Celia furrowed her eyebrows.

"Well, according to Japanese folklore, nosebleeds are caused by excess amounts of hot energy in the body," Fred began in a narrative voice.

"Hot energy," George continued, "is caused by anger or sexual arousal."

"Why do you know about Japanese folklore?" Celia asked, incredulous.

"We're just a font of useless knowledge," Fred grinned.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: screams I'm so excited for this chapter! I know you guys will love it! Please R&R and tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: The characters, with the exception of Celia and Mick are the creation of J.K. Rowling or the creators of Lost.

* * *

Chapter 17:

I'm Still Awake

"So, mum must think you and Cedric are getting pretty serious," Aaron said over breakfast the following morning, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Yes, because we are," Celia responded without looking away from her breakfast.

"Hmm, yes, well…" Aaron's voice trailed away. Celia frowned.

"Aaron, we talked about this," she warned.

"Yes, and you knew I wasn't alright with it from the beginning," Aaron glowered, "he's two years older than you. You're my little sister,"

"Aaron," she sighed.

"I just don't want to see you getting hurt is all. And you know that I can tolerate it, I do spend time with the two of you, albeit in a large group, and thankfully you've abided by my request to not be too physically affectionate in public," he emphasized "thankfully," "and I've been okay with it."

Celia rolled her eyes, "If you could call it that."

Aaron ignored her comment.

"I just don't want you to get hurt."

Celia rolled her eyes again, "Thanks Aaron."

"Morning, you two," Cedric took a seat on the other side of Celia, put his arm around her, and kissed her on the cheek. She smiled at him, ignoring her glowering brother on her other side.

"Morning, well, I better be off to class. See you later Cedric. Celia."

Aaron rose from the table and exited the hall.

Later that night, Celia was in Cedric's room, lying against him on his bed. They were propped up, talking to Mick, who was sitting on his own bed. All of the other boys in their dorm had long since forgone conversation and went to sleep. Celia yawned.

"Maybe it's time for you to head back to your room," Cedric suggested gently.

"No," Celia replied.

She laid her head down on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Mick proceeded to make perverted hand movements. Cedric rolled his eyes.

"She's in your bed, you're half-way there," Mick remarked.

"I'm still awake," Celia responded, her eyes still closed.

Mick laughed and swore.

The two boys remained silent for a little while, until Mick was fairly certain Celia was asleep.

"Come on, try and tell me that you don't wanna bone her."

Cedric widened his eyes and gave him a stern look.

"Mick," he warned. Mick rolled his eyes.

"How much have you guys actually done?" he remarked.

"We've done loads," Cedric retorted, defensive.

"You've snogged," Mick leered.

"I don't want to push her," Cedric said, not looking at Mick, instead gazing at Celia's sleeping form.

"I mean, I'll admit, she's a good looking girl. She's cute. And you're a dude. How the hell have you held out this long?"

Cedric, instead of answering Mick's question, followed a different thread of the conversation.

"Yeah, she is. She's so pretty. And she's beautiful. I started noticing her last year, and thought she was really pretty. Then I spent the summer trying to convince myself that I didn't like my friend's little sister. Then I came back to school, and saw her on the platform, and she was, if possible, even more beautiful than before."

The room was silent for a moment. Cedric looked up at Mick.

"Mick, I think I love her."


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Chapter 18! Yay! Sorry this took so long, I got really busy with other stuff, and hadn't gotten around to editing this. But here it is.

Disclaimer: All the characters, with the exception of Celia and Mick, are the creation of J.K. Rowling or the creators of Lost.

* * *

Chapter 18:  
Pants Your Boyfriend

Celia woke up the next morning extremely comfortable. She has fallen asleep in Cedric's bed that night, and was still there. It was still early, and she contemplated how much longer she could stay in his bed before having to get up.

She stayed there for at least another half-hour, and when the other boys in the dorm started to shift in their sleep and she thought they would wake up soon, she kissed him softly on the lips. His eyes flickered open, and he grinned.

"Morning," he whispered.

"Morning. Sorry, I fell asleep," she apologized.

"Don't be sorry. It was really nice, having you here. But you should probably go, before Mick wakes up and gives you hell for, 'sleeping with me.'"

She nodded.

"Yeah. I'll see you later," she kissed him again before slipping out of his bed and out of the room.

Cedric leaned back and smiled.

"Cedric, I think we should talk," a voice came from one of the four-posters. Cedric looked at Mick's bed, surprised, as the boy pulled back his yellow hangings around the bed and gave Cedric a serious look.

"Cedric, I want to talk to you about sex," Mick's face was serious, not a hint of sarcasm on it, which, Cedric knew, meant that he was being very sarcastic. Cedric rolled his eyes.

"Piss off," Cedric scowled.

"No, I'm being completely serious," Mick said as he disentangled himself from his sheets and bounded over to Cedric's bed, sitting at the foot of it, "Now I want you to know, if Celia ever pushes you, you have the right to say no." He paused. "And I have the right to make fun of you for being such a little girl."

Cedric kicked at him, but Mick jumped off the bed before Cedric managed to do so.

Celia slipped quietly back into her dorm room, pulling the door shut quietly behind her.

"Morning," Hannah said from behind her.

_Damn_, she thought, _so close_.

"I don't suppose I have to ask you where you were," Hannah said. Celia turned and saw the wide grin on her friend's face.

"With Cedric," Celia mumbled.

"Knew it," Hannah said casually, grinning wider.

"Oh shut up, I just fell asleep in his room is all," Celia frowned at her friend as she crossed over to her trunk, pulling out her robes for the day.

"Sure, sure," Hannah winked, "But you will tell me when you guys, you know," her voice trailed off, leaving a smirk on her face. Celia's mouth dropped.

"Hannah!" she exclaimed.

"I just mean things in general. It doesn't have to be _that_," she shrugged.

Celia rolled her eyes and sat down on her bed. Hannah smiled.

"I'm really happy for you," Hannah smiled, "You two are absolutely adorable, and you work so well with each other."

"Thanks," Celia said, grinning widely.

"You're welcome. I told you he liked you."

"Yeah," Celia grinned, "Is the shower open?" Celia asked.

"Not anymore," Hannah laughed as she ran into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. Celia sighed and grinned.

Finally, after Hannah got out of the shower and Celia was able to get ready, they, accompanied by Susan Bones, made their way upstairs. Celia was finishing her breakfast when she saw Cho leaving the Ravenclaw table for her Care of Magical Creatures class. Celia rose from the table and followed after her, knowing she would be going in the same direction for her Herbology class soon.

"Cho!" Celia called after her. Cho turned and smiled faintly.

"Hi," Cho greeted as she stopped and waited for Celia to catch up with her before continuing her walk across the Entrance Hall onto the grounds.

"How've you been? It feels like it's been a while since I've talked to you," Celia began.

"Yeah, I don't know. I've been kind of out of it since Harry and I have been fighting."

"Well maybe if you talked to him-" Celia began, hopeful.

"No," Cho said quickly.

"He's really upset, Cho. And the letter was complete crap. Lyra barely knows Harry. Please just talk to him," Celia asked.

"I'll tell you what. I'll talk to him. But he has to get on his knees and ask me to forgive him," Cho said coldly before stalking off to her class.

"I just talked to Cho," Celia said as Harry came into the room and took his spot next to her at their planter of bouncing bulbs.

"Oh really?" Harry looked down sadly.

"She's still pretty angry, but I think we have a chance to get her talking to you again."

"Really?" Harry looked up hopefully, "What all did she say? Tell me everything."

"Well, she said she's been 'kind of down since Harry and I have been fighting,' and I suggested that she talked to you, and she said no, and I said that the letter was completely crap, and that you were really upset as well, and she said, well…" her voice trailed away, not exactly wanting to tell Harry the last bit of what Cho had said.  
"What did she say? Celia, if there's a chance she'll forgive me, I'll take it."  
Celia looked at him for a moment before continuing.

"Well, she said, 'I'll talk to him. But he has to get on his knees and ask me to forgive him.'"

"Then I'll do it."

"Harry, don't you think that sounds a little ridiculous?" Celia was incredulous.

"No. I really like her, Celia, and I want her back."

That evening, as Celia sat contemplating what she was going to do to get Harry and Cho to speak to each other again, Mick flopped down next to her on the couch.

"Hey, Celia," he grinned.

"Oh, hi, Mick."

"Do you mind if I pants your boyfriend?" Mick looked at her seriously.

"What?" Celia exclaimed.

"Do you mind if I pants your boyfriend?" Mick repeated.

"Why?"

Mick shrugged.

"It's been a while since I pranked him, I thought it'd be fun."

"But… what would possess you to do that? When, why?" Celia spluttered.

"Well, I haven't exactly decided when. And when I do, I don't think I'll tell you, you'll tell Cedric. No, I think it'll be more fun this way. But I'll definitely do it with you there. Definitely be more fun that way. See you later," Mick rose and sprinted out of the common room.

"No, Mick, come back, don't..." Celia's desperate voice trailed away as Mick disappeared out of the common room.


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Chapter 19! I love this chapter, particularly the end, which you will understand when you get there. Yay! Please R&R!

Disclaimer: All the characters, with the exception of Celia and Mick, are the creation of J.K. Rowling or the creators of Lost.

* * *

Chapter 19:

Do Anything Stupid

The next night at dinner, Celia was worrying about Harry. She was worrying because he looked like he was about to do something drastic. He kept watching Cho. As Cho rose from the dinner table, Celia saw Harry mentally calculating something before following her out of the Great Hall.

"Damn it," she swore quietly.

She, feeling obligated to continue her involvement in this situation and a strong sense of deja vu, followed Harry out.

She found Cho standing at the top of the marble staircase, Harry following her up. She hesitated for a moment, hoping that they could handle themselves. Thankfully, there were no witnesses to the situation, so she knew they could stifle any gossip that might arise. As Cho stalked off down the hallway and Harry followed her, Celia knew that she should probably follow them. Walking up the Marble Staircase, she listened hard for any scrap of conversation.

"Cho, please listen to me," Harry pleaded.

"What?" Cho's voice was full of ice, with just a hint of underlying remorse.

"Cho," Harry paused, "I am so sorry. Please forgive me."

Celia rounded the corner to see Harry on his knees, holding Cho's hands in his. Celia rushed over to them.

"Harry, get up," Celia sighed and pulled Harry up, "Cho, please, forgive him."

Cho crossed her arms and frowned.

"He's sorry. Look at him. He's so sorry. And he misses you. And you miss him. You told me so yesterday. Please, for the love of all things holy forgive him."

Cho frowned, then smiled.

"Okay."

Cho and Harry embraced, and Celia stepped back from them.

"Yes," she sighed, relieved their fighting was finally over.

Leaving the couple to their own devices, she went back down to the Hufflepuff common room, where Cedric and Mick were sitting on a couch. They called her over and she walked over to them. She sat down next to Cedric; he put his arm around her, and she pulled her feet up and lay against his chest.

"Where'd you go?" Cedric asked.

"I had to go make sure Cho wasn't going to upset Harry even more and he wasn't going to do anything stupid. Mostly the latter," she chuckled.

"Are they back together again?" Cedric asked.

"Yeah. Technically they never broke up. But they're not fighting anymore."

"That's really sweet of you to help your friends," Cedric smiled.

"Thanks. I just felt really awful that they were fighting."

"You're really good to your friends," Cedric smiled.

Celia looked up at him. They leaned in towards each other, and she kissed him. As deepened their kiss, something shook them out of it.

"Okay you guys, getting really uncomfortable," Mick said.

They pulled apart, Celia looked at Mick, and smirking, Celia leaned in towards Cedric, and kissed him again. Their kiss grew more intense. Cedric's mouth was warm and his lips were soft, and Celia reveled in the kiss. She soon forgot that they were in the common room; she soon forgot Mick was there, and only became aware of his presence when he cleared his throat. Celia pulled her mouth away from Cedric's and started kissing his neck. Cedric moaned and Mick cleared his throat louder, and Celia smirked. She pulled away.

"I'm going to go to bed," she stated.

"No," Cedric grinned, pulling her close.

She smiled.

"Yeah. I'm tired. Repairing the broken love lives of my mates takes a lot out of me."

She stood up and held out her hand to Cedric so he would hug her goodnight. He turned slightly red.

"Uh," he mumbled.

Mick, realizing what the problem was, started laughing. Cedric slowly and tentatively stood up, pulling Celia towards him, but not too closely. Celia leaned in and gave him a goodnight kiss. As they kissed, Celia stepped in towards him and closed the space between them. Pressed close against him, Celia realized why he had been so apprehensive to stand and that he had really enjoyed that last kiss. She smirked, still kissing him, and Cedric turned a deeper shade of red. Celia, feeling mischievous, pressed herself even closer to him, pressing her hips right up against his pelvis. Cedric blushed even harder. After another minute or so, they slowly pulled apart, and as Celia started to walk away, Cedric quickly sat down and re-adjusted his robes. Mick's laughter crescendoed to a hysterical roar. Finally he regained his composure, for the most part.

"See, if she was impressed, she would be in your room now," Mick grinned.


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Hey guys! Here it is, chapter 20! Thank you for being so patient with this chapter; I was really busy this past week with school/play stuff, and I just didn't have time to work on it. But here it is, and I hope you like it. Please R&R.

Disclaimer: All the characters, with the exception of Celia and Mick, are the creation of J.K. Rowling or the creators of Lost.

* * *

Chapter 20:

Happy To See Me?

As Aaron left the Entrance Hall for his next class on Friday, he was greeted by his friend Alex from Beaxbatons. She was accompanied by a rather pretty girl with dark blonde hair. Alex smiled at him.

"'Ello Aaron. 'Ow are you?" Alex grinned.

"Very good, thanks, Alex. How're you liking it here at Hogwarts?"

"Eet is vairy nice. I like it a lot. As does my friend Sarah here," she gestured toward her friend, who grinned and blushed, "She does not speek vairy much eenglish, and I, and she, was 'oping you might tutor 'er," Alex grinned a grin that Aaron had grown very used to over the years; it was a grin that indicated that she had ulterior motives.

Aaron smiled. He took Sarah's hand and kissed it in a chivalrous way.

"Enchante. But Alex, why don't you tutor her?"

"Well, she was 'oping for a tutor from 'Ogwarts, to get to know more people, and you can speak French as well as I can. She was also 'oping for a male tutor."

Aaron blushed a little at this.

"Well, alright. When does she want to start?"

"Whenevair you 'ave time." Alex grinned.

"Well, there's no quidditch this year, say every other day, hmm, Monday, Wednesday, Friday?"

"Ask 'er yourself, Aaron, we grew up togezzair, I know you speak French," she smirked.

"Lundi, mercredi, vendredi? Est-ce que ca c'est bon?" Aaron asked of Sarah. She smiled.

"Oui," she said softly.

"Smashing," Aaron said to Alex, "A lundi, madamioselle," he beamed at Sarah.

The two girls walked past him.

"Au revior, Aaron!" Alex called.

Aaron and Sarah's tutoring session that Monday had gone very well. The pair spent several hours in the library working on her English, and he told her that she was doing very well already. On Wednesday, Aaron was making his way down to the library. He was actually in a very good mood. Sarah was an excellent student, and a quick learner, and he really enjoyed talking to her.

Celia was leaving the Great Hall after dinner when she spotted Cedric, who had yet to come up for dinner. She noticed why when she saw that he was talking to Mick; the conversation must have sidetracked them both. Celia, for some reason unknown to her, decided to run up to Cedric and tackle him.

"Tag! You're it!" she shouted, before running off up the Marble Staircase. Once Cedric realized what had happened, he looked at Mick, who was laughing, and turned and ran after her. In a deserted corridor he caught up to her, pinned her down to the ground, and straddled her.

"You're it," Cedric panted.

Celia laughed.

"Is that a wand in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?" Celia grinned.

"Want to find out?" Cedric smirked.

He started to bend down to kiss her, but right as he did, Aaron walked around the corner.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Aaron shouted.

Cedric jumped up. Celia, the smile gone from her face, stood as well.

"Aaron, this wasn't what it looked like," Celia said, her voice apprehensive.

"Don't tell me what it doesn't bloody look like!" Aaron screamed."

"Aaron, we were playing tag," Celia explained.

"So tag involves him straddling you?!"

"Well, I-" Celia started.

"Aaron, relax, we-" Cedric began.

"Cedric, keep away from my sister! I swear, if you touch her-" Aaron screamed.

"Piss off, Aaron! Keep your nose out of my business," Celia retorted. She grabbed Cedric's arm and pushed past Aaron, "Come on, Cedric."

Aaron stood rooted to the spot as Celia and Cedric passed him, positively shaking with rage. A good five minutes passed before he recovered enough, and that was not very much at all, to be in a slightly suitable state to be around other human beings without killing something. He stalked off to the library, still shaking slightly as he set down his bag at his and Sarah's table. Sarah picked up on his anger.

"'Ow… are… you, Aaron?" she said slowly and deliberately with a thick accent. He looked up and smiled.

"That was really good, Sarah," he was astonished.

"I… 'ave… comment dit-on… pratiquer?" She asked. Aaron smiled.

"Practicing."

"Practicing," Sarah repeated. Aarons smiled.

"Perfect."

"Mais, 'ow are you?" she asked again, knowing that he was avoiding her question.

He smiled.

"Actually, a lot better now," he smiled at her. She gave him an inquisitive look.

"Quoi?" she asked, not understanding his response.

"Bon," he replied simply.


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: So this chapter would have been out earlier, and with a MUCH different ending, had I not let silverlastsforever read it before I intended to post it. She ripped it to shreads. And I appreciate her for it, because I think my chapters are much better when she beta's them. So to my friends that thought this chapter would be called "Why's Your Belt On the Floor?" I apologize. It'll still be in here, but later. And I appreciate your patience in waiting for this chapter. But here it is, chapter 21. Please R&R.

Disclaimer: All of the characters, with the exception of Celia and Mick, are the creation of J.K. Rowling or the creators of Lost.

* * *

Chapter 21:

Bloody Badges

Harry walked into the courtyard apprehensively. He knew he had to find Cedric, it was the right thing to do, but he was afraid of talking to him around his 6th year friends who would quote Rita Skeeter's article at him. When he finally found him, he wasn't sure if he was relieved or not. Cedric was laying down on a bench with his head in Celia's lap and was running her fingers through his hair. On nearby benches was an assortment of Cedric's 6th year friends and Celia's 4th year friends. Cedric seemed to be speaking to his friend Mick Cooper, and Celia was talking to Hannah Abbot and Justin Finch-Fletchley. Harry grimaced as he saw the multitude of "Potter Stinks!" badges, though he was comforted by the fact that Celia seemed to be telling Hannah and Justin off for wearing them. As he approached, the Hufflepuffs looked over at him and Celia smiled. Her smile vanished when Mick Cooper shouted, "Read the badges, Potter!"

"Shut it! And quit it with the bloody badges!" Celia shouted, seizing the badge she had taken from Hannah and throwing it at Mick. She turned back to Harry, "Hi Harry. Alright?"

"Yeah," he replied, then turned to Cedric, "Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked.

Cedric, looking puzzled, sat up.

"Yeah," he stood and squeezed Celia's hand as he followed Harry away from the group. Celia watched them with curious eyes from the bench.

"Dragons, that's the first task," Harry said immediately.

"Dra… what? Are you serious?" Cedric asked incredulously.

"Yeah. They've got one for each of us," Harry responded.

"Alright, thanks," he paused, "listen, about the badges, I've told them not to wear them, and you saw Celia go off on Mick. She's a good friend to you, Harry."

"Yeah, she's a great girl," Harry shrugged.

"Yeah, she is," Cedric looked back at her and smiled.

"She talks about you… a lot," Harry's comment brought Cedric's attention back to Harry.

"Really?" Cedric asked, slightly incredulous.

"Yeah," Harry nodded.

"Well…" Cedric crossed his arms and grinned in a pleased way.

"Well, now that your head's been inflated to three times its proper size," Harry joked, "dragons… is what I meant to tell you…" Harry nodded, looking as if he wanted out of the conversation, suddenly aware of the Hufflepuffs staring at him a few yards away.

"Oh, right," Cedric nodded, "Thanks. A lot."

Harry nodded and grinned faintly.

"No problem." He nodded toward Cedric and then Celia before walking away.

Cedric walked back over to his friends, taking his seat next to Celia.

"What'd _he_ want?" Mick spat at Harry's retreating figure.

"Lay off Harry, alright, Mick? He's a good kid." Cedric snapped.

Mick looked taken aback, "Alright."

Celia smiled at Cedric, "Thank you," she whispered.


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: Thanks for your patience in waiting for chapter 21. I know some of my friends were disappointed A. by the lack of "why's your belt on the floor?" and B. by the amount of time between postings. Well, I have this chapter up, and chapter 23 almost done, and that'll be a big chapter, so there you go. We're almost on fall break, so that'll be up pretty soon. So without further ado, chapter 22! Please R&R!

Disclaimer: All characters, with the exception of Celia and Mick are the creation of J.K. Rowling or the creators of Lost.

* * *

Chapter 22:

Need To Get Laid

"Hey, Cedric, how do you do this one?" Mick pushed his piece of parchment towards Cedric on the table.

Cedric slid it towards him and looked at Mick's potion's homework.

"You add root of wormwood and stir it clockwise twice." He pushed the paper back to Mick.

"Thanks," Mick scribbled the response on his piece of parchment.

"Hey, Cedric, how 'bout this one?" he pushed his paper back at Cedric.

"That's amortentia. You don't need a bezoar for that."

"Oh, thanks." He scribbled the answer on the parchment.

"And this one?" Mick asked again, pushing the parchment back at Cedric.

"Mick, I'm not going to do your potions homework for you." Cedric sighed.

"Fine," Mick huffed, pulling out his book and slamming it open.

Mick froze.

"What is-" Cedric began.

"Shh, shh, shh! Listen!" Mick raised his hands to indicate silence.

"What?" Cedric furrowed his eyebrows.

"Listen! The quiet! It kinda makes you think. Right now, someone is taking their first breath. And right now, someone is taking their last. And right now, someone is losing their virginity, and that someone is not you! You need to get laid!" Mick shouted.

"Shut it! I'm not going to push her!"

"At this point, I'm not even sure if you're into girls anymore!"  
"What?"

"Well, there's the occasional rumor that, they've stopped, since you've started dating Celia, but, there was, that… occasional rumor that you're… you're gay."

"I'm not gay!" Cedric shouted.

"Then bang Celia!"

It was then the boys noticed Aaron standing a few feet away. Cedric opened his mouth to speak, but Aaron raised his hands for quiet.

"I don't… want to know," Aaron said, and walked away.

Mick started laughing.

Cedric put his head in his hands, his elbows resting on the table.

"Oh God," Cedric mumbled.

"What are you worried about? He knows you're not banging his sister. Dude what's wrong? You've been tense all day. Is it because Celia's not putting out?" Mick said in a mock-sympathetic tone.

"I think I have to tell Celia something, but I'm not sure if it'd worry her too much."

"Does she just not do it for you, sexually?" Mick raised an eyebrow.

"Shut it! Not what I need right now!"

"Well, there she is, tell her," Mick gestured at Celia, who had just entered the common room.

"Well, then get out, so I can talk to her!"

"Fine, I'll see you later," Mick left his homework strewn over the table, and made his way to the dorm room, stopping by Celia, whispering something, pointing at Cedric, and then walking away.

Celia walked over to Cedric and sat down at the table.

"Mick said you needed to talk to me?" she asked.

"Yeah, do you remember our first date?" Cedric asked, reaching across to her and entwining their fingers.

"Yeah," she smiled.

"You remember what we talked about?"

"Yeah."

"You remember what I said about the Triwizard Tournament?" he asked.

Celia furrowed her eyebrows, unsure where he was going with this.

"Yeah, you said…" she laughed, "something about battling a dragon."

She laughed. Cedric gave her a serious look, mixed with a pleading for understanding.

"Well…" he began.

Her face crumpled.

"D… dr… dragons?" she whispered.

Cedric nodded.

"You're not… serious?"

"Harry told me. In the courtyard today."

She looked at him, eyes wide. Suddenly she erupted into coughing. Cedric put his hand on her shoulder and her coughing quieted.

"Are you alright?" Cedric looked, looking genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I think I have a cold, or something. Dragons, you can't be serious," she almost sounded stern.

"Why would I joke about something like this?"

"You joked about it before!"

"That's because I didn't know I actually had to do it!"

Celia jumped from her chair and threw herself into Cedric's lap, burying her head in his chest.

"What are you going to do?" she whispered.


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: Yay! Chapter 23! Sorry this took longer to post than I had hoped, but I wanted to wait until I got a bunch of reviews on the last chapter. Because I think it looks good with a bunch of reviews. So, here it is, chapter 23. The first task. *ominous music* duhn duhn DUHN. Clearly, I am a little melodramatic. But ah well, I digress. I hope you like it. For my readers who watch Lost, you will be pleased to find a Jack reference in this chapter. Please R&R. And for my readers who are anxiously waiting for "Why's Your Belt On the Floor?" that will be in next chapter. And for my readers who are anxiously waiting to find out why I keep saying that, you'll see in the next chapter. Let's just say that for those readers who reviewed and asked when Celia and Cedric were going to start "doing stuff," you'll find out in the next chapter. And now that I've got you waiting anxiously for chapter 24, here's chapter 23.

Disclaimer: All characters, with the exception of Celia and Mick, are the creation of J.K. Rowling and the creators of Lost, and Lyra, who who is silverlastsforever's character.

* * *

Chapter 23:

Mind if I Crash?

Celia woke up the day of the first task very nervous. She got up and dressed with shaking hands. Hannah lead her up to the Great Hall, where she passed Cho and Hermione, both with equally terrified looks on their faces. Celia sat down at the Hufflepuff table, where her friends started pushing food toward her. She shook her head.

"I can't eat," she shook her head.

Hermione walked over to Celia.

"I can't eat either; do you want to see if we can get into the champion's tent?" Hermione asked.

"Yes," Celia sighed and stood. As they walked out of the hall, Cho joined them, her face very pale.

As they walked out of the Entrance Hall, Hermione put her arms around Cho and Celia.

"Listen, I know you're worried about them, I am too. But I know they'll do fantastic. Cho, I made Harry practice his spells all night, and Celia, Cedric's so smart, I'm sure he will do smashingly."

All Celia and Cho could do was nod.

They walked across the chilly grounds toward the enclosure. When they entered the tent, they say Fleur sitting, very pale, her head in her hands, Krum standing moodily isolated from the other three champions, Cedric pacing up and down the tent, and Harry standing by the entrance. With the swish of the curtain, Cedric stopped pacing and everyone looked over. Celia rushed over to him, and he wrapped his arms around her. Out of the corner of her eye, Celia could see Harry hugging Cho and Hermione at the same time.

"Are you nervous?" Celia whispered.

He nodded, his jaw clenched.

"A little."

They heard the curtain swish again. Dumbledore and the other judges entered. Dumbledore said something to Harry, Hermione, and Cho, and walked over to Celia and Cedric.

"The task is about to start, so if you would kindly say your goodbyes, and we can commence and get your champions back to you as soon as possible," he winked at Celia, and walked away, engaging himself in conversation with Madame Maxime.

"My Uncle Jack told me a story for when I get scared," Celia began, "He's a healer, and he told me that one time, he was operating on a girl, and the surgery was almost finished, and he tore something important. He called it a "dural sack," or something like that. And he was so scared. And he told me he let the fear in, for five seconds, just five. He took a deep breath, and started to count. 1… 2… 3… 4… 5. And then he sewed her up, and she was fine. I believe in you. I know you'll do brilliantly," she leaned in even closer to him, "I love you," her voice was just barely audible.

"I love you too," he whispered, and kissed her.

When they pulled apart, she looked at him sadly.

"I have to go."

He nodded, "I know."

He kissed her again, and she, Hermione, and Cho left the tent.

Outside, they joined the throng of students making their way to the stands. Somehow they managed to find Celia's Hufflepuff friends, and Celia sat with Hannah to her right, and Cho on her left. Celia wasn't sure if Cho looked more terrified than Celia felt or not.

"At the sound of the cannon, you will enter into the arena and face the dragon before you. All you have to do is retrieve the golden egg," Ludo Bagman, one of the judges announced, "Mr. Diggory, you are our first champion," Bagman smiled warmly at him.

The cannon sounded. Cedric walked to the end of the tent, and took a deep breath.

"1… 2… 3… 4… 5."

He walked out of the tent and into the arena.

"There he is, there he is!" Mick screamed from his seat in front of Celia. She saw Cedric. He looked positively green. Her stomach churned, and she grabbed Hannah and Cho's wrists, digging her nails inadvertently into the palms of their hands. The crowd screamed their approval. And then they lead out the dragon.

"No way! No freaking way!" Mick screamed.

The dragon was a terrible sight. 35 feet tall, pale blue, and a vicious looking thing. The dragon snarled. Cedric took out his wand and walked towards it.

He spent a moment while he seemed to consider what he planned to do, and started walking around the edge of the arena. He surveyed his target, the golden egg, and tried at first to go straight towards it. The dragon reached out a large claw and swiped at him, narrowly missing him as he dodged out of the way.

"Oooh, narrow miss there, very narrow," the commentary from Ludo Bagman, one of the judges boomed from the judge's podium. Cedric dove towards the clutch of eggs, but the dragon swiped at him again, and he rolled out of the way. Cedric crawled to his feet and jogged away from the dragon.

"He's taking risks this one!"

Cedric pointed his wand at a rock and shouted a spell; the rock was transfigured into a small dog. The dragon, appearing distracted by the dog, swiped at it, leaving Cedric to run towards the clutch once again. But the dragon, seeing his movement, let out a roar and a stream of fire. Cedric rolled out of the way, but not fast enough to avoid scorching his face. Celia screamed. She felt nauseous. Hannah and Cho let out small whimpers of pain as Celia's nails dug deeper into their hands.

"Clever move – pity it didn't work!" Lido cried.

Cedric continued for the egg, however, and soon had it in his grasp. The crowd broke into an earsplitting roar, Mick howling and cheering loudly. Celia sighed, glad the experience was over. The dragon handlers quickly stupefied the dragon, and Cedric was dragged off by Madame Pomphrey.

Hannah slipped her hand away and examined her wounds.

"Ow," she whimpered.

Celia took notice of the lacerations she had left in Hannah and Cho's hands.

"I'm so sorry. You could have pulled away."

"Not with that grip," Hannah smiled, "It's fine," she hugged Celia.

Celia made to stand to go and find Cedric in the hospital tent, but Cho held her there.

"Please?" Cho asked, her expression imploring.

"Of course," Celia said, and squeezed Cho's hand as they waited for Harry's turn.

Cho grew more pallid with each contestant. Finally Harry emerged, and Cho looked as if she might faint. Celia offered her hand up as a stress-ball to Cho, and watched as Harry dodged and swerved his way to the egg on the broomstick.

At the end of the competition, Celia, Hermione, and Cho once more separated themselves from the large mass of people and snuck over to the Hospital tent, where Cedric and Harry both were being treated by Madame Pomphrey. As they walked, Celia noted deep fingernail marks in Hermione's cheeks, where she had watched Harry perform the task. Celia laughed as she pointed this out, and she and Cho showed Hermione the cuts in their own hands.

"Well, why shouldn't we be worried about them? Bloody bunch of idiots, entering this competition," Hermione muttered.

They entered the tent and first say Harry, in the cubicle closest to the door. He was sitting on top of a bed, waiting to be dismissed by Madame Pomphrey. He smiled at them.

"Smashing, Harry," Celia smiled.

"Harry, you were brilliant! You were amazing! You really were!" Hermione squeaked.

Cho just threw herself at him and hugged him tightly.

Harry smiled at them all.

"Thanks. How'd Cedric do?" he asked of Celia.

"Fine. He got burned pretty badly." Celia smiled faintly.

"He will be just fine, Miss Pace," Madame Pomphrey said, walking into Harry's curtained off section of tent, "you may go see him, if you wish."

"Thank you, Madame Pomphrey. Smashing job, Harry," she smiled at them all before slipping into Cedric's cubicle.

Cedric was sitting up on the bed. Half of his face was covered in a thick, orange paste. He smiled widely at her.

"Well?" he asked.

She sat down on the stool seated next to his bed.

"I think that was the most terrified I've ever been." She sighed.

He blushed.

"Sorry."

"That was amazing, up until the fire-breathing bit."

He laughed.

"Well, I guess I didn't listen to what you told me before I entered."

She frowned.

"What did I tell you before you entered?"

He pointed at the paste.

"You said, 'don't hurt your pretty face,'" he grinned.

She laughed, "Well, then, what am I going to do with you? You don't listen to my advice, you're reckless," she gestured at the tent, all the while grinning.

"Come here," he grinned, pulling her towards him and kissing her softly.

"You know how much that meant to me when you told me you loved me?" he whispered.

She smiled, "I do."

"I know. And I love you too."

"Alright, Mr. Diggory, you may go. Let me just clean up this paste first," Madame Pomphrey came bustling into the cubicle, and Celia and Cedric pulled away from each other. Madame Pomphrey pointed her want at Cedric's face, muttered a spell, and the orange paste disappeared.

"Now, if I understand correctly, the judges want to speak to the champions, and then you may go back to your common rooms to spend the whole night celebrating," she explained, and then left the pair alone.

Cedric stood from the bed, and taking Celia's hand, walked from the tent. Outside the champion's tent waited Ron, and Celia smiled at him. Cedric kissed her on the cheek, whispered a "I'll be right back," and slipped into the tent.

"Waiting for Harry?" Celia asked of Ron.

"Yeah."

"You two speaking again, then?" she grinned.

"Yeah," Ron blushed.

"Took you long enough," Celia scoffed, "I forgave him before you did."

"I know. You don't need to rub it in. I don't enjoy not talking to him."  
"Well, at least you're talking again."

"Celia! Ron!" a cry came to their ears.

They turned to see Lyra exiting the stands with the crowd, waving at them.

"They did amazing! Fantastic! You must be so proud!" she beamed at the two of them, "Party at Gryffindor and Hufflepuff common rooms tonight, I'm sure! Mind if I crash?" she grinned and waved again before being swept away with the crowd.

Soon enough the champions emerged from the tent.

Cedric took Celia's hand and walked slowly with her back to the castle.

"I am in no rush to get back to the common room," Cedric announced.

"Why's that?"

"It's going to be absolute chaos."

And sure enough it was. The room exploded into enormous cheers when Celia and Cedric entered the room, and people poured around him, congratulating him, giving him praise and high-fives, pushing food at him, and asking him about the task. 15 minutes into the chaos of the party, Mick found them.

"Cedric!" Mick cried, and clapped his arms around Cedric, hugging him tightly.

As he pulled away, Mick made one swift movement and ran away.

As the crowd stood stupefied, Cedric glanced down at his now pantsless lower half.

"Mick!" Cedric yelled as he struggled to pull his pants up.

Everyone's response had been instantaneous. Celia's hand flew to her eyes and turned herself in another direction, knowing it would be uncouth and very obvious if she looked. Aaron quickly shut his eyes and slowly turned his head away, shuddering in horror. Hannah's mouth dropped open and after a few seconds realized that she should avert her gaze. Mick stood back and admired his handiwork at the creation of the scene.

"Mick, I'm going to strangle you!" Cedric cried, struggling with his pants and chasing after Mick, who bolted out of the room.


	24. Chapter 24

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long. I haven't really had the chance to work on this chapter, and it needed some reworking. Anyway, it's finished now. I hope you like it. And thanks to silverlastsforever for all her help beta-ing this chapter. Please R&R.

Disclaimer: All characters with the exception of Celia and Mick are the creation of J.K. Rowling or the creators of Lost.

* * *

Chapter 24:

Why's Your Belt On the Floor?

"Oh my God!" Hannah cried when she and Celia sat talking later that night.

"What?" Celia asked.

"Did you not see that?"

"Unfortunately, I was privy to that event, yes," Celia rolled her eyes.

"Did you look?" Hannah asked.

"No!" Celia cried, "Why would I do that! Aaron was right there, and that would have… no!"

"Phwoar, is all I have to say," Hannah commented.

Celia scoffed.

"I think we need to find you a bloke of your own, so you'll stop saying things like that."

Hannah shrugged.

Later that week, Celia and Cedric were both in his dorm room, alone. They were snogging on his bed. Celia pulled away.

"So, has Mick still been giving you a hard time because we're not… doing anything?"

Cedric looked around uncomfortably.

"Yeah."

She put her hand on his thigh.

"Are you disappointed we're not… doing anything more than snogging?"

"That will never change the way I feel about you. I love you. And would never want to pressure you."

She nodded.

"I don't think I'm ready to have sex," she stated, " I just don't want our relationship to revolve around it if we do have sex."

He put his hand on the side of her face.

"Okay. I'm… I'm not sure if I am either."

"Are… you're a virgin, too, aren't you?" she asked.

"Yeah," he nodded, blushing.

She kissed him. "I'm glad."

He smiled.

"Well, then, we're not having sex for now." Celia started, "But how about we just start with this?" she smiled, and started snogging him again.

As they continued to kiss, she fiddled with his tie, loosening it. The knot came undone, and the tie slipped from his neck. Cedric kissed a trail down her jawline, and Celia ran her hands over his chest, his shoulders, and his back. Grabbing his shoulders, she pushed him onto his back and straddled him. He grinned as she looked at him, and pulled her by her waist back on him and began kissing her again. A moment later, she pulled away again. Her eyes flicked from his face, to the belt of his pants, to his face, to his belt. When her gaze returned to his face, he looked stupefied.

"A… re…" he was having difficulty getting a complete thought to express his surprise, "are you.. yo… sure… tha…"

She leaned in, an inch from his face. "Shut up. Do you want me to do this or not?"

He bit his lip. She smirked and straightened up, reaching for his belt. She unfastened it, pulled it out of the belt loops, and threw it on the floor. She had just reached for the button on his pants when they heard the door open.

Cedric groaned. Celia whipped around to see who was at the door. It was Mick.

A wide grin was spreading across Mick's face as he surveyed the two of them.

"Well, I'll leave you both to it then."

He ducked out of the doorframe and closed the door. Celia groaned and rolled off Cedric and lay next to him. He put his arm over her.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled.

"It's okay, it's not your fault, I'll just have to beat Mick up later."

She laughed. "I should go though."

"No," he slipped his other arm under her, wrapped them around her waist, and pulled her towards him.

"Yeah, I really should go. Aaron will have noticed we're both gone, and, well, he's still cross about … everything. And Mick's a horrible liar."

Cedric laughed. "Yeah."

She kissed him softly, then climbed off his bed and left the room. He rolled on his back, groaning. He put his hands over his face. Mick walked back in, grinning.

"I saw Celia left. No luck?"

"Yeah, no thanks to you."

"Guess you have to do it yourself, now, eh?" Mick laughed.

Cedric growled throatily.

"Shut it," he warned. "So was Aaron looking for Celia?" Cedric asked, steering the conversation away.

"Yeah, actually, he was wondering-"

The door clicked as it opened and Aaron stuck his head in. He quickly surveyed the room.

"Oh," he said, surprised, "um, have either of you seen Celia?"

"No," they both quickly replied.

"Alright, I figured… never mind then," Aaron said, beginning to leave, before noticing something, "Why's your belt on the floor?" Aaron asked, surprised that there was a blemish on the usually immaculate floor of Cedric's dorm room.

Cedric's mouth dropped open and he stammered while Mick burst into raucous laughter. Aaron, after watching Cedric grapple for a response, and Mick laugh at his misfortune for 30 seconds, Aaron decided it didn't matter, and he shrugged, turned, and left.


	25. Chapter 25

A/N: Chapter 25! This is a good chapter. I've sort of built up to this for a while, but here it is. Sorry it took so long to post, my beta took a while to read it, and this was actually done sans beta, so if you spot something wrong with it, review and tell me. Hopefully it'll be quicker posting for the next chapter. Please R&R!

Disclaimer: All characters, with the exception of Celia and Mick, are the creation of J.K. Rowling or the creators of Lost.

* * *

Chapter 25:

Clearly She Was Impressed

"Sorry about interrupting you guys," Mick continued, after he had controlled his laughing attack and Aaron had left the room.

"Sure you are," Cedric said, skeptical.

"No, really. I am genuinely sorry that I interrupted you two. You were fooling around. I am sorry I interrupted that. You need to get laid."

Cedric rolled his eyes.

"Sorry about the pantsing too," Mick continued.

"Yeah, right," Cedric snorted.

"Well, yeah, I'm not really that sorry about that."

"Figured."

"It was funny."

"For you," Cedric huffed.

"Yeah it was. But hey, I guess I helped you out. After all, you got Celia in here with you. Clearly she was impressed."

Cedric rolled his eyes again, "Seriously, Mick, I told you, we're not going to have sex anytime soon."

"You're such a chick," Mick rolled his eyes, "Great job with that dragon though," Mick praised, before punching Cedric on the arm, "Why didn't you tell me?"

I wasn't supposed to know."

"So you did know!" he punched Cedric again, before looking at his speculatively, "You told Celia, didn't you? That's what you wanted to talk to her about, wasn't it? It was! Ugh! And you didn't tell me?" Mick exclaimed.

"She would have gotten upset if I hadn't." Cedric reasoned.

"Was telling her any better? Didn't she worry? She was absolutely green the morning of that task."

"I'm sure she did. Actually…" he paused, pensive, "She probably worried a lot. When I told her… Mick, do you know anything about panic attacks?"

"You freak out, don't you? Can't breathe?" Mick asked.

"Yeah, I told her, and she started hyperventilating, or at least, it sounded like that. Then she started coughing. And I asked her if she was all right, and she said she was probably just getting a cold. I think she was having a panic attack."

"Over you?" Mick laughed.

"Haha. Funny."

"Cedric, keep your hands off my sister! God, if you've got that much of a sex drive, then date a sixth year, or anyone else for that matter! I'm sure plenty of girls would love to date a champion, but keep away from Celia!" Aaron screamed.

The Hufflepuff common room was watching this latest blowup. Celia and Cedric had been snogging in the common room, which Aaron had, unfortunately, noticed. The three were standing by the couch, which Aaron had forcefully made them vacate when he had stormed over, and dragged Cedric into a standing position.

"Just because you've never had a mature relationship, doesn't mean you have to antagonize your sister and me!"

Cedric was clearly fed up. He never argued back with Aaron. Celia stood and watched in horror. As she watched Aaron grew steadily redder.

"Oh, so a mature relationship constitutes of groping someone in a public place?"

"Shut up, Aaron!" Celia shouted.

"Celia, stay out of this," Aaron chastised.

"Why don't you stay out of this? Celia's and my relationship isn't any of your business." Cedric retorted.

"It is my business! You've made it everyone's business by snogging in the common room!"

"Aaron, why can't you-" Celia started.

Celia started coughing deep, rasping coughs. Her coughs soon turned into wheezes. Her breathing was shallow, and she was wheezing and shaking violently. Cedric looked worried; he had no idea what was going on. Aaron turned white.

"Come on, Celia," Aaron said.

He reached out, grabbed her by the arms, and moved her quickly onto the couch, pulling her feet up on the couch as she continued to wheeze.

"What's going on?" Cedric asked, terrified.

"She's having an asthma attack," Aaron replied, pale.

"I didn't know she had asthma," Cedric was awestruck.

"Yeah, well, you wouldn't. She's embarrassed by it; she doesn't tell anyone. She hasn't had an attack in years…"

"When I told her about the dragons, she started wheezing. Was that an attack?" color was draining from Cedric's face.

"It might have been a minor attack. Emotions are her only trigger. Emotions and stress," Aaron was rubbing Celia's back, trying to get her to breathe.

Celia's breathing was erratic and shallow, and was punctuated by sharp coughs. Color was draining from her face and she was clammy.

"Should we take her up to the hospital wing?" Cedric asked.

"We don't have time. We need to get her inhaler. Damn, she doesn't carry it with her anymore. Thinks because she hasn't had an attack in two years, she doesn't need it. James!" he called to his friend, " Go get her inhaler from my trunk. You'll recognize it. It looks like a bent piece of plastic."

His friend ran down the boy's dorm corridor. Aaron tried to get Celia to breathe as she continued to wheeze and shake. A minute later, his friend ran back with the inhaler and passed it to Aaron, who quickly gave it to Celia. She took it and took a breath from it. Her breathing got easier and her shaking stopped. Cedric looked very relieved; Aaron even more so. Aaron, who had been sitting on the couch by her knees, grabbed her in a hug.

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said any of that."

Celia hit him with the arm that wasn't pinned to her side.

"You're a jerk. Of course you shouldn't have said that."


	26. Chapter 26

A/N: To all my dear readers who stuck with me for two months while I procrastinated posting this, I apologize and thank you. You are truly awesome. Sorry for the wait, but it is here now, and I hope you enjoy. Please R&R.

Disclaimer: All characters, with the exception of Celia and Mick, are the creation of J.K. Rowling and the creators of Lost.

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Chapter 26:

You Got Me, Pretty Boy?

Winter break was rapidly approaching. Professor McGonagall had announced in class that Hogwarts would be hosting the Yule Ball that day. That night, Celia and Cedric were sitting together in the common room.

"So, are you going to ask me to the Yule Ball?" Celia asked, running her fingers through Cedric's hair.

"Don't you think that you would already know you're going with me?" He kissed her on the cheek.

"Yeah, but it's nice to be asked." Celia smiled.

Cedric smiled back at her, "Alright," He took her hands in his, "Celia Pace, would you honor me by being my date for the Yule Ball?"

She grinned, "Yes, I will."

He kissed her softly.

"So, there's a Hogsmeade trip this weekend. What do you want to do?" Cedric asked.

"Actually, I meant to talk to you about that. My mum and dad and some of my family are coming into Hogsmeade for Christmas. Do you want to go see them?"

"Yeah, I'd love to. I know your parents, who else is coming?"  
"My Aunt Kate and Uncle Jack, and my Uncle Sawyer."

"Ah, the violent one."

"And Aaron's coming."

"Great. They can tag-team me."

Celia hugged him, "It'll be fine. I'll protect you," she laughed.

That weekend, Celia, accompanied by her brother and boyfriend, made the walk down to Hogsmeade. Inside the Three Broomsticks, they were greeted by the sounds of the bar and the calls of their family. They worked their way to the other side of the room, where five adults were seated around a table.

"Celia! Aaron!" a petite blonde woman stood and threw her arms around her two children. She had golden blonde hair that matched the shade of Celia's, and all around greatly resembled her daughter, with the exception of her eyes; blue instead of hazel. She was a few inches taller than her daughter. When Claire let go of Celia and Aaron, she then hugged Cedric.  
"Cedric, dear, it's so good to see you again," Claire spoke with an Australian accent.

"It's good to see you too, Mrs. Pace," Cedric smiled.

Claire let go of Cedric. A man almost as tall as Aaron, with dirty blonde hair, dark blue eyes, and a short, scruffy beard rose and hugged Celia and Aaron in turn.

"Cedric. How are you?" Charlie Pace shook Cedric's hand. Charlie spoke with a Manchester accent identical to Celia's.

"Good, sir. And you?"

"Smashing. Well, have a sit, and Celia'll introduce you to everyone."

Celia, Cedric, and Aaron sat in the three remaining seats.

"Well, Cedric you know my parents. This is my Aunt Kate and my Uncle Jack."

She gestured towards the couple sitting opposite them. Her uncle, Claire's brother, looked very different from his sister. He was much taller than Claire, clean-shaven, and had short dark hair with light brown amber eyes. Kate had brown hair and eyes lighter than Jack's. When they greeted him, Cedric realized they both spoke with American accents.

"I have heard so much about you," Kate grinned, and winked at Celia, who blushed.

"And this is my Uncle Sawyer," Celia gestured at the other man at the table.

Celia's "Uncle," Sawyer, whom she was not actually related to, could not have looked more opposite from her other uncle. His shaggy dark-blond hair framed his face, ending just at his jaw. He had dark eyes, and they were trained on Cedric. He looked as if he had not shaved for several days and looked thoroughly threatening.

Sawyer, who had been reclining in his chair, leaned forward slightly and crossed his arms. He squinted at Cedric.

"Hi Cedric," he spoke with a refined southern drawl.

After an hour or so catching up in the Three Broomsticks, Claire posed the idea of the kids showing them around Hogsmeade. As the group rose to leave, Sawyer stopped them.

"Hold on a minute. I haven't had a chance to talk to this boy," he pronounced it "bo-ah," in his southern accent, and eyed Cedric suspiciously, "Why don't y'all go on ahead, and we'll catch up?" Sawyer posed.

The rest of the group proceeded to stand.

"Don't kill him," Jack joked.

"Not yet," Sawyer grinned at Jack.

Jack rolled his eyes. Cedric gave Celia a frightened look, to which she responded with a smile and a roll of her eyes.

"I'll see you later," she said to Cedric, still grinning.

"Be nice," Claire warned.

"I always am," Sawyer responded.

The rest of the group departed. Sawyer crossed his arms and leaned his chair back on it's two back legs.

"Lemmie tell you somethin' boy," once again pronouncing it like "bo-ah," "I'ma make this perfectly clear. You don't hurt her. You don't do a damn thing to upset her. Celia's very special to me. She's my li'l niece. And if you upset her in any way, I'll know. First person she's gonna tell is her momma. Then she's gonna tell me. Hell, I asked her to lemmie know if you do anything to screw up what you got with her. So if you do anything to hurt her, anything, I'll kill ya. And I won't try to make it quick and clean. Hell, I'll draw it out if you really hurt her. An' I'll tell ya this: I got no problem goin' back to prison. So, you think about that long and hard before you try anything with my niece. You got me, pretty boy?"

"You lads coming?" Charlie had ducked back into the bar to see what Sawyer and Cedric were doing still in there.

"We're comin' Charlie," he shouted before addressing Cedric again, "Now I bet you're wantin' to get back to Celia. Just remember what I said." He nodded his head towards Charlie and took another drink of his beer, indicating that he was finished talking to Cedric. Cedric stood and left, rejoining the group outside. Charlie, who was still standing at the door, realized what their talk had been about. He shook his head at Sawyer and gave him a faint smile. Sawyer shrugged, grinned, and took another swig of his drink.


	27. Chapter 27

A/N: Here we are, chapter 27 of Keeping Up the Pace! Sorry it took so long for this to get posted, it took a long time before it got written, because I had to work some stuff out with this chapter. Anyway, here it is, I hope you enjoy. Please R&R.

Disclaimer: All characters, with the exception of Celia, Mick, and Lyra, are the creation of J.K. Rowling and the creators of Lost; Lyra is the creation of the fanfiction author silverlastsforever.

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Chapter 27:

Speak Any English

It seemed that the only subject of conversation for the next few weeks was the Yule Ball. Girls giggled and flipped their hair as boys walked past them in the halls, and boys were sticking in tight clumps, unsure of their next move.

Celia was sitting in the Hufflepuff common room, attempting to do her Divination homework. She was about to go to Harry and Ron's old standby, making things up, when Mick sat down opposite her.

"I need help," he announced.

"Decided to finally admit you're a nymphomaniac, huh? Good for you, admission that you have a problem is the first step to recovery," Celia barely looked up from her Divination homework.

"First off, that's alcoholism. Secondly, I have no problem with my nymphomania. Third, not what I'm talking about."

"What then? What's your problem?"

"I want you to teach me French."

"Oh, no, trying to win over one of those poor Beauxbatons girls? Which one?"

"Your friend Alex," Mick said with a grin, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.

"What? What did that poor girl do to you?" Celia frowned.

Mick merely shrugged.

"She's hot," he responded.

"Mick, she's like a sister to me."

"So I can't date her?" Mick asked.

"Well, I suppose you can, but don't sleep with her and then break her heart."

"Relax, I'm just going to ask her to the Yule Ball… for now."

Celia scowled at him.

"Relax! I'll be a gentleman." Mick gave her his most convincing grin.

Celia eyed him suspiciously for a moment, and then her glare softened an infinitesimal amount.

"Fine. What do you need to know how to say?"

Aaron wasn't exactly good at talking to girls. Granted, he had grown up around two, but one was his sister, and the other was practically family. Aaron still wasn't good at talking to girls. So he was completely at a loss as to what to do when the professors announced the Yule Ball. It would have been easy for him to just ask Alex; he had known her since they had been small, but Mick had asked her first.

Aaron was halfway through his next tutoring session with Sarah before he realized that he should ask her. Reprimanding himself mentally, he geared himself up to ask her.

"So, Sarah, Est-ce que n'importe qui vous a invité à la danse de Noël?"

"Ah, non, pas encore," Sarah smiled, "my, uh, speaking of English, is… not vairy good in… how do you say… entre deux personnes?" Sarah furrowed her brows.

"In conversation?" Aaron posed.

"Oui. C'est… it's vairy good en classe, mais… in conversation…"

"Ah, oui, je comprend. Donc… if… you… aren't going… with anyone yet…" Aaron stuttered.

"Aaron, would you like to go weeth me?" Sarah cut across his stuttered sentence that would have taken a few minutes to get out.

Aaron, taken aback, yet pleased all the same, grinned.

"Yeah."

As Celia, Susan, and Lyra walked down the hallway to their Charms class, the subject of the Yule Ball was once again brought up.

"So, Hannah, you have a date to the dance yet?" Lyra asked.

"I think I'm going with Justin." Hannah scratched at her chin thoughtfully.

"What do you mean, you think?" Lyra asked.

"They've had a weird on-off relationship for the past year," Celia explained.

"Yeah, we date, but have never actually been official. It's strange," Hannah frowned, "Anyway, he'll probably ask me to the ball. You going with Draco?" Hannah asked of Lyra.

"Yeah," she grinned.

"Celia! Celia!"

The three girls stopped and turned around to see Susan Bones pelting down the corridor towards them.

"What's up, Susan?" Celia asked as Susan reached them, halting, and massaging a stitch in her side.

"I've been asked to the ball, and you'll never guess who asked me."

"Who?"

The girl's attention was captured; more gossip, especially about the ball was always a welcome subject.

"Well, you know that Durmstrang lad, Cezary Wojciechowski, really tall, blonde, Polish?"

"Yeah," Celia responded.

"Him." Susan breathed.

"He's pretty quiet, isn't he?" Celia asked.

"Yeah. Well, he's pretty quiet because he doesn't actually speak any English. But his friend says he really rates me." Susan grinned.

"He doesn't speak any English? Don't you think that's a bad idea?"

"No, but he's really cute."

"Susan, he doesn't speak any English." Celia insisted.

"Then again, if he's that good looking, he doesn't have to speak any English," Lyra mused.


	28. Chapter 28

A/N: Yaaay! Another chapter of Keeping Up the Pace!! This chapter's pretty funny, if I do say so myself. I've already got chapter 29 written, and, depending on where I want to end the chapter, either half of or all of chapter 30 written. They should both be up with in a week, a week and a half tops. I like to post chapters as quick as possible, but then again, I like reviews. Anyway, if you're wondering where the plot might be going in the near future, or you're interested in what's going to happen next, I'll give you guys a special sneak peek. Well, not really. But I'll give you a generic overview. It'll take me two chapters to cover Christmas day (this chapter and the next chapter). Then we've got some Cedric POV (ooohh!) and some discussing of eggs. Then the second task and a VERY EXCITING after-task party. Anyway, here's chapter 28. Please R&R.

Disclaimer: All characters, with the exception of Celia, Mick, and Lyra, are the creation of J.K. Rowling or the creators of Lost; Lyra is the creation of the fanfiction author silverlastsforever.

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Chapter 28:

I Got Attacked

Celia woke up on Christmas morning when a pair of socks hit her head. Sitting up suddenly and brandishing her wand, she looked around for the perpetrator.

"Oh, good, you're awake," Hannah said calmly, "as long as you're up, give me my present."

Celia scowled at her, and, thinking that she should not give Hannah her present just yet because of her rude awakening, got up and crossed to her trunk.

"Happy Christmas, by the way," Celia grumbled, rummaging through her trunk for her present to Hannah.

"Sorry. Happy Christmas. You know how I get. Your present's on your bed, by the way," Hannah grinned sheepishly.

"Thanks. Here," Celia, standing upright, tossed a green-wrapped package to her best friend.

"Thanks!" Hannah grinned and tore open the package.

"Sure," Celia said tiredly, and returned to the trunk to retrieve the presents for her other friends. Susan and Anna were still asleep, and Celia lay their presents on their trunks before returning to her bed and crawling back in, drawing her stack of presents toward her. As she reached for a present, Hurley, her tabby cat, leapt onto the bed and sat on the gifts in their entirety.

"Dang… fat… cat…" Celia grumbled as she attempted to shove the cat off of her bed, "Here," she reached into her bedside table and retrieved her cat's present, a catnip toy, and threw it across the room. Hurley looked at it drowsily, looked back at her, and blinked, as if telling her that he wouldn't be bothered to retrieve it. She scowled and shoved him unceremoniously off the bed. Hurley hit the floor with a thud, and trotted off to retrieve the mouse.

"Celia thanks! I needed Cassandra Vablatsky!" Hannah cried from her four-poster, her mouth full of a recently decapitated Chocolate Frog.

"Sure thing," Celia turned to see Hannah quickly demolishing the large pack of Chocolate Frogs that had been her Christmas present, so she could get at the cards.

Celia and Hannah worked their way through their stack of presents, and eventually their roommates woke up. By the time the four girls had finished un-wrapping their presents, Celia had accumulated a large pile of wrapping paper at the foot of her bed, that had just housed her Christmas presents. She sifted through the presents once again: the various sweets from Ron and Hannah, the king cake from Alex, and the books from her godfather, brother, and Uncle Jack. Her ornate hair pin from Cho sat on top of the twins skiving snackboxes and Hermione's planner that when opened shouted phrases like, "what's put off 'till tomorrow is better done today!" Her Aunt Kate's sneakoscope, the Caerphilly Catapults hat from Harry, the Manchester United everything from her parents, and, most amusingly, the chastity belt from her Uncle Sawyer, all lay haphazardly on the bed.

The most surprising gift she received was not surprising for it's contents, but it's sender. Celia was pleased to open a particularly bulky present to find a slew of homemade pies and a chunky yellow sweater, all made by Mrs. Weasley. A handwritten letter came with the present, in which Mrs. Weasley expressed her gladness that her children had become such good friends with their distant cousin, Celia. Mrs. Weasley also told Celia about the newly discovered friendship between all the adults, Celia's parents, her Aunt Kate and Uncle Jack, and the Weasleys. Celia, surprised by Mrs. Weasley's kindness, but very pleased, set the letter with her other things, and extracted herself from the bed to get dressed.

When the girls had finished unwrapping their things and gotten dressed for the day, the four of them headed to the common room. The four were all wearing new Christmas presents, Celia in her Manchester United scarf and yellow sweater, with her new hat in her bag. Hannah grinned at Celia when they entered the common room, and pointed at the couch by the grate. There sat Cedric, looking towards the corridor to the girl's dorms. He was clearly waiting for Celia. He grinned when he saw her and crossed to the group of girls. Celia grinned widely as Cedric wrapped his arms around her and kissed her softly.

"Happy Christmas," he grinned.

"Happy Christmas," she whispered back.

"Morning Cedric. Happy Christmas," Hannah smirked at the two of them.

"Happy Christmas Hannah. Girls," he inclined his head to the group. They grinned.

"Celia, come with me. I want to give you your present," he whispered to her. She smiled.

"Okay, sure," he led her by the hand to his dorm.

"It's in my room," Cedric explained.

"Cedric, I told you, we're not having sex."

"I said it was a gift you, not for me," he laughed.

His room was deserted; the other boys had gone up to breakfast already. Crossing to his bedside table, he opened the drawer and pulled out a small velvet box. He handed it to her and looked awkwardly at his feet.

"Happy Christmas, Celia."

She grinned and opened the box. She gasped.

"Cedric, it's lovely! Put it on me?" She asked.

"Sure," Cedric took the box from her and removed the gold locket.

Celia walked to the mirror and pulled her hair back. Cedric, unfastening the clasp, slid it around her neck and fastened it. Celia held the locket.

"Cedric, I love it."

Cedric, standing behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist and laid his head in the crook of her neck.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"I'm glad," he murmured into her neck.

He started kissing her neck, softly at first, from her jaw line to her collarbone. He continued to kiss her, and she tilted her head away, allowing easier access to her neck. He began kissing her more aggressively. He parted his lips and bit her, softly. A giggle escaped her lips, and he grinned into her neck. He bit her harder this time. She laughed again, louder, piercing. She turned her face and pressed it against Cedric's.

"What's gotten into you?" she grinned.

"Did you not like that?"

"No, I did, but I didn't expect it from you. You don't normally do things like that."

"Well, maybe I should do it more often?" he asked.

He nuzzled her neck. She smiled.

"We should get going though," she said, kissing him softly, "I don't know if the girls waited for us.

He nodded and she pulled away and started to leave the room. She flipped her hair back and Cedric thought he saw something.

"Celia."

"Yeah?" She turned around.

Cedric decided against mention it.

"Nothing."

She nodded and took his hand. The pair left the dorm room to find that her dorm mates had indeed gone up to breakfast. Celia and Cedric joined them at the Hufflepuff table. Celia had just begun her breakfast when Hannah leaned over to her.

"Celia?" Hannah whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Um, you have… something on your neck," Hannah frowned, extracting a mirror from her bag. She handed it to Celia and pointed at the spot in question on the left side of her neck.

Celia tilted her head and looked at the place Hannah had pointed. There she saw it, round, purple, and clear as day, the hickey that was blooming on her neck.

She turned to Cedric, who knew he was in trouble, and scowled.

"Cedric, how am I going to explain this to Aaron?" she used her terrifyingly calm voice, the same one Aaron had used when he had discovered that Cedric and Celia were secretly dating.

"Uh… I'm not sure."

"Yeah, neither am I. Well thought out, Cedric," she glared at him.

"I'm sorry," he put on a pitiful expression.

"You will be when Aaron sees the state of my neck," she frowned.

Breakfast progressed slowly that Christmas morning, and eventually Celia and Cedric finished breakfast. They meandered out of the hall, coming across Harry, Hermione, and Ron in the process.

"Happy Christmas, guys!" Harry cried, in a startlingly good mood. He grabbed Celia in a tight hug.

"Happy Christmas Harry. What's gotten into you?" Celia breathed.

Harry relinquished his hold on Celia and grinned.

"I overheard him and Cho talking about their plans for after the ball. That's probably got something to do with it," Hermione whispered.

"And you set us up!" Harry hugged Celia again, lifting her up into the air this time.

"Okay, Harry, you're welcome," she massaged her ribs as he set her down.

"Hey, you got yourself a Weasley sweater!" Ron commented.

"Yes, tell your mum thanks, I love it," Celia grinned.

"No prob…" Ron's sentence drifted away, his focus gone. The group looked at him, confused, before continuing their conversation.

"Hey, you two should join our snowball fight with the Weasleys and some of the other Gryffindors. It's gonna be good," Harry grinned.

"Sounds excellent," Cedric smiled.

"Yeah, sounds great. Hermione, are you excited for the ball?" Celia asked.

"Who're you going with?" Harry was quick to ask.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Absolutely, Celia, I…" Hermione looked at Ron again, who seemed to be staring at Celia's neck.

"Celia, what happened to your neck? Did you get attacked by something?" Ron asked.

Celia scowled at Cedric.

"Yeah. I got attacked."

Hermione, taking a closer look at Celia's neck, smirked.

"That looks really painful," Ron continued on, "And you've got a bite mark," Ron drew closer to Celia, eye level with the mark on her neck and inches from it, "Did one of the blast-ended skrewts attack you?"

"Sure. Yeah. A skrewt."

"Ron, you really are dense," Hermione sighed.

"What? None of you noticed anything," Ron said indignantly.

Christmas day passed lazily, and after lunch Celia and Cedric wandered out to the grounds to join the Gryffindor snowball fight. Snow was falling fast, obscuring their vision slightly, so they didn't notice the pair of students walking towards them until they ran into them.

"Oh, hi, Celia, Cedric. Sorry about that," Lyra smiled warmly.

"Hi. Happy Christmas. It's alright, but we've got to run, they've probably already started," Celia pointed towards the mass of gold and red throwing snowballs.

"Oh, yeah. I'll join you guys soon. Merry Christmas!" Lyra called after them as she and Hermione began walking towards the castle.

"Hufflepuffs! Get them!" Fred's war cry issued loud and booming across the grounds as Celia and Cedric approached. Heads turned in their direction, and they were soon pelted with snowballs. Celia dove to the ground and scooped up a fistful of snow, pitching it back at Fred. It hit him square in the face. A loud laugh came up from his twin, until Fred tackled him and shoved his face in the snow.

The battle raged for several hours after lunch, and several more people joined in the fight, including Lyra, Dean, who made some scathing remarks about one of Manchester United's midfielders, and declared that West Ham was going to floor them in the finals, Seamus, and Mick. Around five, Celia, Lyra, and Hermione decided to make their way back to the castle, and, with Ron's final feeble attempt to discover who was taking Hermione to the ball, they departed.

"So, Celia, are you going to tell me when you got that lovely mark on your neck?" Hermione grinned slyly at her.

Celia rolled her eyes.

"This morning, when Cedric gave me my Christmas present, he… also gave me that."

"Gave you what?" Lyra asked.

Celia sighed and pulled the scarf away from her neck. Lyra let out a small gasp.

"Would'ya look at that. Celia's not quite as innocent as she lets on," Lyra smirked, "and is that a bite mark?"

"Yeah," Celia said, embarrassed.

"So he bit you?" Hermione giggled.

"Yeah."

"What is he, a vampire?" Lyra laughed, finger outstretched toward the mark, contemplating poking it.

"He probably fancies himself one," Celia frowned, "But what am I going to do about this?"

"Don't worry, I've got some make-up that will hide that well. I'm dating Draco, remember?" Lyra smirked.


	29. Chapter 29

A/N: Here we go, chapter 29. It's very fluffy, sorry witchdivasirenqueen. But very fluffy. Christmas fluff! *skips around throwing tinsel everywhere* sorry, really hyper, not sure why. And funny that I'm writing a Christmas scene in July. Ah well. Also, I got the idea for the "Russian dancing," and Cezary in general, from the character Sven from the book Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging. Hope you enjoy. Please R&R.

Disclaimer: The characters, with the exception of Celia, Mick, Anna, and Lyra, are the creation of J.K. Rowling and the creators of Lost. Lyra is the creation of the author silverlastsforever.

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Chapter 29:

Someone's Going to Get Hurt

Celia found Hannah, Susan, and Anna already beginning their preparations for the Yule Ball. Lyra, after giving Celia her bottle of Madame Hunningford's Cover-All, ("hides blemishes, bruises, and abrasions!") departed for the dungeons, and Hermione went up to Gryffindor tower, leaving Celia to walk to the basement to begin her own preparations. In the dorm, she shook the snow from her damp clothes and hung them to dry above her four-poster. None of her roommates were in the shower, which she found to be blissfully warm after a day out in the snow. The girls, excited and giggling, finished dressing in their dress robs and fixing their hair. Celia was pleased to find that Madame Hunningford's Cover-All had not disappointed, and she could not see the hickey at all. At quarter 'till eight, the girls decided to go to the common room and find their dates, with the exception of Susan, who went straight up to the Entrance Hall. The girls were dressed in various shades of warm colors, Hannah in violet, Susan in red, Anna in coral pink, and Celia in yellow. Her hair was pinned in the back with the hair comb from Cho.

The common room was startlingly crowded; very few people had gone home for the Christmas holidays. She saw Cedric waiting for her by the door out of the common room, and, saying goodbye to her friends, walked over to join him.

"You look beautiful," Cedric said, taking her hand and kissing it softly. Cedric was dressed in robes of dark grey that brought out the grey in his eyes.

"Thanks. You look very dashing," she smiled.

"Thank you. And I loved my Christmas present, by the way," he smiled.

Celia grinned.

"I'm glad. I had Hannah sneak in your room and put it there when we were outside."

"Well, I love it. Shall we go?" he held out his arm to her, which she took, lacing her arm through his.

"Yes."

He led her up to the great hall, where people in various colored robes were milling around, trying to find their dates and waiting for the doors to open. Celia saw Mick with Alex; Mick had his head near hers, and was whispering something that made Alex giggle. Celia rolled her eyes and continued to look around the room.

Lyra, Draco, and Blaise were coming up from the dungeons. Draco, sporting black robes with a ludicrously high collar, had Lyra on his arm, who was wearing robes of deep blood-red. A lanky 5th year girl who carried a smug look as if she was better than anyone else in the room accompanied Blaise.

"Champions over here please!" McGonagall called from near the door after the Durmstrang students had entered the Entrance Hall. Cedric kissed Celia and led her over to the spot near the door to the Great Hall where McGonagall stood, waiting for the rest of the champions.

"The doors are about to open, and when they do so, you eight will wait for everyone to take their seats. You will then process in, take your seats, and after dinner, you will lead the school in the first dance of the night." McGonagall instructed.

"Hi, Celia," Cho smirked at her from her spot next to Harry. Celia smiled.

"Hi Cho. You look great."

Cho was dressed in robes of gold, which nicely complimented Harry's bottle green robes.

"So do you. Got any plans for after the ball?"

"No, but I heard you do," Celia smirked.

Cho blushed a little. Fleur and Roger Davies both stood silently off to the side of the doors; Roger seemed to be incapable of speech at that point.

"Hi Harry! Hi girls!" the familiar voice of Hermione came from Celia's right as she and Viktor Krum approached.

"Hi Hermione!" Celia and Cho responded; Harry's jaw had dropped, and was looking with surprise at his friend.

The doors opened and Harry did not have time to comment on Hermione's appearance or date. As soon as the students were seated, McGonagall ushered the champions in and they took their seats at the head table. Celia and Cedric were seated at the left side of the table, between Professor Dumbledore and the judge Ludo Bagman.

The dinner commenced, and Celia was contented to listen to the others' conversations rather than have one, although at one point Dumbledore did strike up a conversation with her about her position on the import of Class A Non-Tradable Goods, and who she picked to win the muggle soccer championship that year.

After the dinner, Dumbledore stood and asked the students to do the same. The tables flew to the sides, and a large dance floor was revealed, in addition to a large stage with several musical instruments. The Weird Sisters, now on stage, began preparing their instruments, and Cedric and Celia, with the other champions and their dates, rose and made their way to the dance floor.

The Weird Sisters began with a slow tune, and the champions began to dance. The judges and other students soon joined the champions; Celia could see Dumbledore and Madame Maxime doing the waltz near where Aaron and Sarah were dancing.

The slower song ended and a faster paced one took its place; nearly all of the students were on the dance floor now. Fred and Angelina Johnson were dancing wildly across the floor, as were George and his date, a skinny dark haired girl in Celia's year in black dress robes. The two couples seemed to be doing some form of a chicken tango; they would position themselves several paces away from each other, charge the other couple, and then swerve away at the last minute. Celia, highly amused, laughed.

"So you've seen them, then?" Cedric laughed as the pair swayed.

"Yeah, someone's going to get hurt if they keep doing that."

"I doubt Karkaroff will tell them off though."

"Karkaroff? Why would he care?"

"Who are you talking about?" Cedric looked at her, confused.

"Fred and George and their dates," Celia furrowed her brows, just as confused as Cedric.

"I was talking about Susan and her date," Cedric explained, and pointed in the direction he was looking.

Susan was being lifted in the air by her date Cezary, who, at the same time, seemed to be doing what could only be described as Russian dancing; he was bent low and kicking his legs out. Susan seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself.

"She's weird. I've known this for a while," Celia laughed.

They danced for several songs, until Cedric posed the idea of getting drinks. Celia, a little pink in the face, nodded yes and said she would find someplace to sit. They found seats at a table with Krum and Hermione, who clearly had the same idea. Celia smiled as they sat down.

"Hot, isn't it?"

"That's what I was just saying. Having a good time?" Hermione smiled half-heartedly.

"Yeah. Hermione, you okay?" Celia raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, fine, thanks." Hermione made another attempt at a smile. Celia frowned.

"Come on," she stood and pulled Hermione out of her seat.

"We'll be right back, boys, talk about… quidditch or something," Celia waved her hand airily as she lead Hermione a few paces away.

"What's wrong?" Celia asked.

"It's Ronald," Hermione sighed.

"Ronald? I've never heard you call him that before. You must be pretty angry."

"Well, he was being rather rude to me, said some unkind things… me being here with Viktor… the Triwizard Tournament…" Hermione mumbled.

"Hermione, listen to me. Don't let Ron spoil your night. You've got a wonderful date, a great dress, and you look fantastic. Ron's just jealous of Krum. Go have fun." Celia encouraged.

Hermione smiled and nodded.

"You're right. I shouldn't let him spoil my night. Thanks Celia," Hermione hugged her.

"Any time. Let's get back to our boys," the pair walked back over to Cedric and Krum, who were, in fact, talking about quidditch.

"What a surprise," Celia sighed, smiling, as she returned to her seat.

When the dance ended, Celia noticed that most students did not wish it to be over. But after the last slow song finished, the students poured into the Entrance Hall, wishing goodnight to their dates and friends. Susan and her date were both reprimanded for snogging in the Entrance Hall, but neither of them looked too bothered. Celia and Cedric walked down to the Hufflepuff common room hand in hand. Few people were in the common room; the only couples that had already returned were those who were both in Hufflepuff; everyone else was still saying goodnight. Celia and Cedric took the couch nearest to the blazing fire, and Celia curled up in his lap. Cedric wrapped his arms around her and laid his head on top of hers.

"Have a nice time?" Cedric asked.

"Mm-hmm," Celia murmured into his chest.

"So did I. Did you read what your locket says?"

Celia looked up at him.

"It says something?" she asked.

"Yeah," he reached down and took her locket in his hand, and gingerly opened it. He turned it so she could look at the inside of it. Inside was an inscription.

_To Celia,_

_Happy Christmas_

_With all my heart_

_Love,_

_Cedric_

"Cedric," Celia whispered, "that's… wonderful. That's really sweet. I love it. And you. Thank you."

He kissed her softly.

"Happy Christmas," Cedric whispered.


	30. Chapter 30

A/N: Here we go! Chapter 30 of Keeping Up the Pace!! Sorry this chapter took so long, it took me a while to decide where to end it, and what to do with it, and what to not. Anyway, after much waiting, I give you the new chapter! Yay! Anyway, I'm very excited about this chapter. We've got some interesting story progression, not to mention the second task coming up very soon. Also, I realized that I named chapter 30 after a line that was in chapter 31, and that got moved there after I titled it. So I had to re-post it. Also, props to witchdivasirenqueen, for suggesting what line I should use for the title. Thanks. Please R&R. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: The characters, with the exception of Celia and Mick, are the creation of J.K. Rowling and the creators of Lost.

* * *

Chapter 30:

I Have Left Something Out

The first week of January, classes commenced again. The teachers launched fully into their coursework, putting strain on their students. After a particularly grueling Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Cedric was packing up his bag when Professor Moody called his name.

"Diggory. Stay here for a minute, when you're done," Moody barked from the front of the room.

Cedric nodded, finished packing his bag, and, slinging it over his shoulder, walked to the front of the room. Moody waited until everyone had cleared out of the classroom before beginning.

"How're coming along with that egg, Diggory?" Moody asked.

"Oh," Cedric furrowed his brows, taken aback, "Uh, fine."

"So you haven't figured it out yet," Moody growled, "Mind if I give you some advice?"

"Aren't the professors not supposed to help us?" Cedric asked.

"That's mighty noble of ya, Diggory. It'll be our secret. Just make sure you pass what I say along to someone who might have helped ya out before," Moody gave him a conspiratorial look. Cedric nodded.

"Here's my advice… try puttin' it in water."

"Water?"

"All I'm gonna tell ya. Try puttin' it in water." Moody growled, waving his gnarled hand, indicating that Cedric was dismissed.

Later that night, Cedric decided to try Professor Moody's advice. Taking the egg, he went to the prefect's bathroom, filled the bathtub, then climbed in. The entire time the mermaid painting on the wall flipped it's hair and splashed the water in it's painting. Cedric took the egg, put it in the water, and opened it. Immediately, instead of the horrible screeching noise, gurgling issued from the egg. Cedric put his head underwater to hear it properly.

It was singing. Singing was issuing from the egg.

"Come seek us where our voices sound,

We cannot sing above the ground,

And while you're searching, ponder this:

We've taken what you're sorely miss,

An hour long you'll have to look,

And to recover what we took,

But past an hour-the prospect's black;

Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."

Cedric's head broke the surface of the water.

"What the hell? Okay. 'Come seek us where our voices sound,'" he ran his hands through his wet hair, "I've got to find them, obviously. 'We cannot sing above the ground,' above the ground… so… underground? Is it like a mine? Like a tunnel? Are we supposed to find treasure? But would Dumbledore really let them tear up the grounds? No, that can't be it," Cedric began swimming laps in the pool, trying to figure out the clues.

"'We cannot sing above the ground,' what else isn't above ground? Maybe it's not ground, but," he looked at the egg, "Water! It's underwater! That's why the egg has to be in water? Where is it? The… the lake? What's in the lake other than the squid? Surely something… 'And while your searching,' so I do have to find something, 'ponder this: we've taken what you'll surely miss,' so… so they've taken… or will take… something of mine, and it's in the Black Lake. But what? 'An hour long you'll have to look,' so I only have an hour? That's not very long. 'And to recover what we took,' I've got to get it back, obviously. 'But past an hour-the prospect's black, too late, it's gone, it won't come back,' so I can't get it back after an hour? Surely that's neither safe nor fair. Maybe it's just a time limit. But what the bloody hell did they take? 'We've taken what you'll sorely miss,' but what… What would they take? What would I… shit."

Cedric put a lot of strain on himself over the next month and a half. Many free moments were spent in the library, pouring over books. Those that were not were spent next to Celia, right next to her.

He had passed the egg hint onto Harry as Moody had suggested a few days after figuring out the egg clue. As the weeks passed and the task grew closer, one could see the effect it had on the champions; Fleur was looking beleaguered and careworn, Krum grew slightly indignant with most other people, and Harry looked frazzled most of the time, as if he had spent the past several hours in the library with Hermione, which he probably had done. Cedric got clingy.

With February 24th approaching faster than any of the champions would have liked, Cedric was letting Celia out of his sight less and less, as if the mermaids would march into the Great Hall and take her captive then. Celia, assuming it was a result of his stress from the tournament, worried about him, concerned that his stress level was near breaking point. Mick counted it as another opportunity to mock his friend.

"Dude, I know you're stressed out, I know the tournament's in a week, but you act like she's going to die or something," Mick laughed one day after Cedric had walked out of his way to walk Celia to Charms class, and, as a result, was late to Potions.

"That's not funny," Cedric mumbled into his textbook as he hurried to catch up with the class, who was making the Draught of Living Death.

"I just don't get what's with you. You've barely let her out of your sight in the past month. You… are you scared she'll break up with you?" Mick cocked an eyebrow.

"No. That's not it."

"Then what? 'Cause seriously, you've got to calm down."

The night before the second task, Cedric had stopped talking. He and Celia were sharing an armchair in the Hufflepuff common room. Their friends surrounded them; Mick was nearby rambling on about the next task to Hannah, also nearby. Ernie and Justin were betting on the results for the next day. The rest of Cedric's 6th year friends were all nearby, avidly discussing the task. As people drifted off to bed, they stopped by and wished Cedric luck, who thanked them with a stoic nod and an attempt at a smile. Celia was worried. He seemed to be taking the idea of this upcoming task very hard.

Later that night, around 9 o'clock, a very nervous-looking Professor Sprout entered the common room.

"'Ey, Professor. What brings you to our common room?" Mick called from their corner.

"Celia, actually," Professor Sprout said, walking over to them and wringing her hands, "Dumbledore needs to see you in his office, Miss Pace."

"Okay," Celia was tentative; she wasn't sure what she had done.

"You're not in trouble. But you do need to come along with me now," Sprout sensed the trepidation in her voice.

"All right, Professor," Celia nodded and turned to Cedric.

"I'll see you soon," she managed a smile.

She started to rise from the seat. Cedric caught her arm and pulled her back. He kissed her softly on the cheek.

"I love you," he whispered quietly before letting go of her arm. She stood and smiled at him again, nodding.

"I love you too," she mouthed, "No worries," she said aloud, squeezing his hand, "I'll be back."

She followed her Head of House out of the common room and up to where Dumbledore's office was located, hidden behind a stone gargoyle.

Celia had never been in Dumbledore's office before, and was slightly mesmerized by all the whirring silver objects on tables. She looked around and tried to take it all in before Dumbledore spoke.

"Hello, Miss Pace."

Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk. There were four chairs in front of the desk. Three were empty, but in one sat a very frightened looking little girl with blonde hair. The girl could have been no older than eight. Dumbledore smiled.

"I'm sure you're wondering why you're here. Don't worry; you've done nothing wrong. If you would have a seat, I'll explain everything when our other two hostages arrive."

Celia nodded and took the seat next to the girl. A minute later, the door to Dumbledore's office opened again, and in walked Professor McGonagall with Ron and Hermione in her wake. They sat in the two remaining seats at Dumbledore's invitation.

"Now that our hostages are all accounted for, let me explain. As I am sure you are all well aware, the second task of the Triwizard Tournament is tomorrow. And as I am also fairly sure, the champions have, more than likely, told you what the task is to be?" he raised a curious eyebrow.

Hermione and Ron nodded, but Celia was still confused. The little girl to her left looked as if she had not understood a word Dumbledore had said.

"Well, the second task is a task to test our champions cunning. The egg clue that the champions have been trying to figure out for the past three months, when opened underwater, held a riddle that they had to figure out. The riddle stated that the champions would have to retrieve what they would 'sorely miss.' You four are what your champions would sorely miss. I am sure," he smiled, "that you all know which champion is yours. Tonight I will be placing you under a sleep enchantment. Ah, I have left something out. They must retrieve you from the Black Lake."

Hermione and Ron looked as if this fact did not surprise them. Celia, however, had not been told by Cedric any of the details of the task.

"I will be placing a sleeping enchantment on all of you, and you will be placed in the depths of the Black Lake early tomorrow morning. Do not fear, no harm shall come to you. Until your champion arrives, you will be guarded by the merpeople who inhabit our lake. And you will not awaken until you emerge from the lake. There will be no need to worry. You will be totally safe," Dumbledore smiled broadly, "I hope I can be ensured all of your participation?"

Celia, Ron, and Hermione nodded. The little girl did not respond.

"She has been previously informed of what is going to happen by Madame Maxime," Dumbledore explained to his three students, "Are you ready?" he asked the four.

They nodded.


	31. Chapter 31

A/N: Chapter 31! Yay! I'm so excited for this chapter! I guess I should put a bit of a warning at the beginning. Now, the end of this chapter… has some content. I'm not gonna say what, because I don't want to give it away. But there is some… stuff. But it's totally fine, totally in-line with the rating. Anyway, I hope none of you are disappointed with the ending. And disappointed in many ways. I'm very sorry if it bothers you, and I would like to know if it does. Please R&R. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: All characters, with the exception of Celia and Mick, are the creation of J.K. Rowling and the creators of Lost.

* * *

Chapter 31:  
What Kind of Sick Task is That?

Cedric, a nervous wreck, could barely eat the morning of the second task. He was staring blankly ahead from his seat at the Hufflepuff table, food untouched on his plate. Aaron was sitting a few seats down, looking around a little nervously. Cedric, deciding that he would not be able to eat anything, got up to walk to the Black Lake. Aaron stood and followed him.

"Cedric? I'm a little worried. I haven't seen Celia. I would have expected her to be with you. Do you know where she is?"  
Cedric kept walking.

"Cedric? Cedric? Hey. Do you know where she might be?"

"She's in the Black Lake."

Aaron froze as Cedric kept walking.

"What!!" Aaron screamed from behind him. He quickly caught up to Cedric.

"Excuse me, can you please explain 'she's in the Black Lake'? You don't mean she went for a swim, do you? She's in the lake?"

"Yes."

"Why!!" Aaron screamed.

"That's the second task. I have to rescue her from the lake. I think mermaids have her."

"What kind of sick task is that?"

"She's what I'd miss the most," Cedric said quietly.

"What?"

Cedric stopped walking.

"The egg clue, said I had to get back whatever I'd 'sorely miss,' I'd miss her more than anything."

Aaron's expression softened.

"Wha… what?"

"Yeah. I love her Aaron. And I know you don't approve, but I really care about her. So now I have to go pull her out of a lake," he nodded.

Without warning, Aaron hugged Cedric.

"Aaron? You alright?" Cedric said, taken aback.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you really cared about her."

"That's because you're an idiot," Cedric smiled.

Aaron relinquished his hold of Cedric.

"Yeah. Sorry about that."  
Cedric smiled.

"It's alright."

"Now… go get my sister out of the lake," Aaron grinned.

What felt like minutes later for her, Celia's head broke the surface of the Black Lake. It was the end of the second task, for Cedric and Celia at least. Celia looked around, coughing water. She was in the middle of the lake; Cedric was next to her, his arm wrapped around her, pulling her towards shore.

The crowd was screaming. From what she could tell, she and Cedric were the first to resurface. She turned to look at Cedric. He smiled at her, and she beamed at him. When they reached the shallows and were wading towards shore, Aaron rushed into the water and grabbed Celia in a hug.

"Aaron, get off me, I'm fine!" Celia pushed him off, and he let go, but he put his arm around her and clapped Cedric on the back.

When they got on shore, Madame Pomphrey rushed over to them, throwing towels over their shoulders and fussing over them. She gave them both large quantities of Pepper-up Potion. They were soon joined by Hermione and Viktor Krum, and Madame Pomphrey fussed over them as well.

Cedric had his arms wrapped around Celia. Hermione was looking at the lake, a bit nervous.

After a long span of time, three more heads broke the surface of the lake. It was Harry, Ron, and Fleur's little sister. Within minutes they had joined the crowd on the lake, and Madame Pomphrey was tending to them as well. Hermione, a nervous wreck over Harry, was hugging him tightly.

As Dumbledore announced the champions and their points, Celia and Cedric barely took notice. Cedric had his arms around Celia and she had her head against his chest.

When Dumbledore had finished awarding the points and had announced the date of the final task, the crowd started to wander back to the castle.

As the Triwizard Tournament progressed, the noise the Hufflepuffs made in their common room grew steadily louder with the completion of each task. And at the end of the second task, after their champion had returned first, and was tied for first place, they had to struggle to keep the volume down enough so a professor would not come tell them off.

Mick had managed to secure a surprising number of Filibuster's Fireworks from the Weasley Twins. The house elves, helpful as ever, had given Ernie and Justin heapings of food when they went to retrieve some, and music blared out of a Wizarding Wireless, enchanted to blast the music at an even higher volume. Celia and Cedric, however, were not much for the party. They interacted with their exuberant housemates, of course, and chatted with their friends, but they were more interested in each other than anything else. The second task seemed to solidify their feelings for each other. Celia seemed to be contemplating something the entire time, calculating and mulling over a decision.

Finally she turned to Cedric, having made up her mind.

"Um…" she whispered. He looked at her, "How… do you feel… about… us… ditching?" she raised her eyebrows, posing her question.

He furrowed his brows, confused.

"What?"

"Uh… yeah… we could…" she laced her fingers, looking nervous, "go somewhere… a little more… private," her eyebrows still raised, a ghost of a grin flickered across her face.

Cedric inhaled and his breath hitched.

"I could… thank you… properly… for pulling me out of the lake," she smirked.

Cedric, fully comprehending her meaning, stared, his mouth hanging open a little.

He blinked twice, then gave a small nod.

"Uh… eh… Yeah."

She smiled.

"Okay."

Walking slowly and awkwardly out of the common room towards his dorm, a shout, or rather, a shout directed at them, met their ears.

"Cedric! Where are you-"

Cedric and Celia turned around to see Mick, across the room, looking at them with his arms splayed. Cedric, smirking, raised a finger to his lips. Mick saw a ghost of a wink flick across his face, before Cedric turned away again and walked away.

"Oh my God!" Mick screamed, comprehension dawning. His mouth dropped open and his hands flew to his mouth.

"Holy sh-" he practically screamed before stuffing his fist in his mouth.

He spun on the spot, taking in everything that had just happened in the past ten seconds. Rushing over to Hannah Abbot, he picked her up and spun her.

"Mick! What are you doing?" she squealed.

"I'm so excited! I'm so proud! It's like my little boy has become a man!" Mick screamed.

"What are you talking about?" Hannah laughed.

Celia and Cedric had reached his door. Celia reached for the doorknob, but Cedric leaned against the door. He took both of her hands in his.

"Are you sure?"

Celia nodded.

"I'm certain."

Cedric pulled her towards him.

"Because I would never dream of pressuring you into anything."

"Cedric, I'm certain," she kissed him softly, "I love you."

"I love you too," he nodded.

He turned and opened the door.

Once they were inside the room, he closed the door behind them. He looked at her, and she giggled nervously. He grinned, and took her face in his hands and kissed her softly. Celia was as nervous as Cedric was, but sensed his apprehension, and took the initiative. She kissed him more fervently. He pressed her against the door, nibbling on her lower lip. She moaned softly, and this seemed to give him the confidence to continue. His hands entangled with her blonde hair as he began to kiss her with more confidence. Her hand pressed against the door slid across it until she found the doorknob. The lock clicked.


	32. Chapter 32

A/N: My dear readers, I thank you for sticking with me for so long and not hunting me down while I've been MIA. I apologize for the severe delay in story posting, but I've been so stressed out with school, that I haven't had time to write. I had the best of intentions over break, but I just didn't get to it. So I am rewarding your patience with a fantastic Christma-Channuk-Kwanz-Winter-Yule present, several new Keeping Up the Pace chapters. I'll be posting chapters for the next week or so, and I've already finished two more after this, so they will go up soon. Also, I apologize in advance if Mick's insensitive comments offend anyone. His views are the views of a perverted teenage boy, not me (a not-as-perverted teenage girl). Anyway, I'm sure you're all dying to find out what happens next. So here it is, chapter 32.

Disclaimer: All characters, with the exception of Celia and Mick, belong to J.K. Rowling or the creators of Lost.

* * *

Chapter 32:

I Don't Do Sensitivity

A loud banging noise met their ears at almost the same time that a shout did.

"Are you done yet? There's only so long I can keep the rest of the guys out of the room!" Mick shouted.

Celia and Cedric jumped. His shouting had roused them from a deep sleep that they very begrudgingly left. Cedric shook his head groggily and looked at Celia. She smiled faintly and flopped down onto the mattress. Cedric looked from her to the door. Celia reached up and grabbed his shoulders, pulling him back down to the bed. Cedric smiled and lay back down next to her, and grabbed his wand from the bedside table. He pointed it at the door and muttered an incantation. It unlocked, and he set his wand down before collapsing on the bed again.

The morning after the second task, Celia was almost surprised when she started resurfacing to consciousness to find herself in Cedric's room. The excitement of the previous day, and her deep sleep had wiped her mind completely blank of all thought. She smiled into Cedric's bare chest as she remembered the night previous. Cedric, already awake, felt her stir and shifted to look at her. She smiled.

"Morning," he grinned.

She smiled broadly and kissed him softly.

"Morning. Now, I want you to know, just because we did it last night doesn't mean you should expect to have sex all the time now," she grinned.

He smiled.

"Of course," he kissed her again.

She smiled.

"Okay. I should probably go before the boys wake up and decide to throw you a bloody party."

Cedric laughed and nodded.

"Probably. I love you."

"I love you," she whispered, kissing him and pulling on her robes quickly and quietly, before ducking out of the room.

Cedric, grinning widely, lay back down on his pillow. A few seconds later, he heard a soft thumping noise from nearby. He sat up, propped up on his elbows and looked around to see Mick, sitting completely upright on his bed, staring at him. The noise that Cedric had heard had been the sound of Mick clapping his hands to his chest.

"What?" Cedric said.

"I'm so proud," Mick said in mock-tearful tones, "It's like my little boy is all grown up. I'm so proud," he repeated.

"Shut up," Cedric said, laying back down on his bed and rolling his eyes.

"You know how excited I was last night? I screamed. I had to stifle my yells. It practically killed me to not tell anyone," Mick continued.

Cedric sat bolt upright.

"You didn't tell anyone, did you?"

"No. I just picked Hannah Abbott up and spun her. I may have shouted things. But no one was watching. I swear. They were nonsensical things I shouted anyway. No one saw you go anyway."

Cedric sighed, relieved. He lay back down again.

"What are you on about?" One of their dorm mates, Nate, asked. The talking had roused the other boys.

"Well… let's see…" Mick began, "how can I put this in the best way possible? Cedric… last night, you might have noticed he disappeared from the party? Cedric popped Celia's quaffle," Mick smirked at his best friend, who had turned bright red.

The boys murmured their approval.

"Way to be sensitive, Mick," Cedric frowned.

"I don't do sensitivity," Mick grinned at his friend.

"But it was so much more beyond sex," Cedric sat up once more, "I've never felt this way about anyone before, and I really care about her. The timing couldn't be any more perfect, I had just pulled her out of the lake. It was just…" Cedric bit his lip and furrowed his brows, searching for words, "It was just… amazing."

"Wow," Mick said, "that was… really gay," he nodded.

The boys laughed as Cedric made an obscene gesture towards his friend.

Celia returned to her dorm room to find Hannah already awake. This did not surprise her. Hannah had been awake when she had fallen asleep in Cedric's room, and Hannah just tended to know things. Hannah, however, was not taking her usual discreet route. She was standing by her bed, facing the door that Celia had just closed, with her hands on her hips, much like a mother.

"How was it?" Hannah cocked an eyebrow.

"What?" Celia was startled. She hadn't really expected Hannah to know that much.

"How… was… it?" Hannah spoke each word slowly, as if Celia would better understand them if they were spoken slower.

"How did you… you know, don't you?" Celia raised an eyebrow as well.

Hannah nodded.

"Yep. I know."

"How?"

"Three things. One, I'm psychic," she smiled, "Two, I have very highly honed intuitive senses, especially about you, since you're my best mate. Three, Mick ran over to me, picked me up and spun me, shouting something about how his little boy was all grown up. I put stuff together."

"Did… did anyone else notice him?" Celia was worried.

"Of course, he was shouting. 'Course, we were all shouting, and it was loud. So no one really paid him much attention. No one saw you go. I didn't. You're fine."

Celia nodded, relieved.

"And don't worry, I didn't tell anyone."

Celia nodded again.

Hannah sat down on her bed and patted the spot beside her.

"Now, how about you tell me how our beloved champion is in bed?"


	33. Chapter 33

A/N: My dear readers, my penance for more than two months of chapter silence continues. Unfortunately, this chapter is a bit of a filler, and it's not very interesting. I apologize. But, because it is short and not very interesting, chapter 34 should be up quicker; it's already written, and I just like to wait for reviews. Enjoy. Please R&R.

Disclaimer: All characters, with the exception of Celia and Mick, are the creation of J.K. Rowling or the creators of Lost.

* * *

Chapter 33:

Magical Scars

The months after the second task passed leisurely. The Hogwarts students were well assured of their champions, as they were tied for first. There wasn't much for any of them to do except prepare for their exams that would take place at the end of the term, around the same time as the final task. Things were relatively slow until Divination class one day.

Harry had been under an increasing amount of pressure from the tournament, and then there were the rumors that he had been one of few people to encounter Barty Crouch when he appeared on the grounds before he suddenly disappeared again. Harry looked exhausted, and he had lain back in his chair to sleep. Celia and Ron decided to let him do so. Harry had lay quietly in his chair until partway through the class, when he grew pale and started to shake. Harry dropped to the floor and began to scream, his hands clutching his forehead. Celia and Ron were at his side in an instant.

"Harry! Harry!!" They shouted.

Harry stopped screaming and opened his eyes. The rest of the class had moved over by him, and Professor Trelawney peered over him. Harry panted heavily as he pulled his hands away from his face.

"You all right?" Ron asked.

"Of course he isn't!" Professor Trelawney declared, " What was it, Potter? A premonition? An apparition? What did you see?"

"Nothing," Harry mumbled as he sat up, rubbing his forehead.

"You were clutching your scar! You were rolling on the floor, clutching your scar! Come now, Potter, I have experience in these matters!"

"I need to go to the hospital wing. Bad headache," Harry shook his head.

"My dear, you were undoubtedly stimulated by the extraordinary clairvoyant vibrations of my room! If you leave now, you may lose the opportunity to see further than you have ever-"

"I just want to see a headache cure," Harry said, standing up.

"I'll come with you, Harry," Celia said as she and Ron rose with Harry.

"No. I'll go by myself."

"Are you sure?" Celia held out a hand to steady him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. See you later," Harry picked up his bag and left.

Professor Trelawney looked very putout as she continued the class, and assigned them and excessively large assignment as a result.

Celia continued to worry about Harry throughout the day. She was very relieved to see him looking not necessarily good, but at least better than he had at dinner. After dinner, Harry came up to her.

"Hey, Celia. I have a question."

"Sure, go ahead. How are you feeling?"

"Fine, thanks. I was wondering what you know about magical scars."

Celia furrowed her brows.

"Magical scars?"

"Yeah. You're studying to be a healer, right?"

"Yeah. But magical scars… I dunno, Harry, there's not much known about them. Why?"

"Well, because… well, you saw what happened today. My scar was burning. And it does that from time to time. And I don't really know why."

"It burns? Hm… well, I guess there could still be a curse contained in it, and that could be why. I'm not sure. But I could do some reading, if you like."

"No, it's okay. If you happen across anything while you're studying…"

"I'll let you know."

"Thanks. And could you not tell anyone about this?"

"Sure thing."

Both Celia and Cedric were handling the stress of the tournament much better. On the eve of the third task, they not only were barely stressed, they were able to agree with the rest of the Hufflepuffs that Cedric had a very good shot at winning the whole thing. The Hufflepuffs, in honor of their champion, the end of the school year, and finals being nearly over, threw a pre-task party. Celia and Cedric, wishing for private conversation, left early to go to his dorm room. As they sat on his bed, they quietly discussed the upcoming task.

"Are you scared?' she asked.

"Not really. After the first task, which was scarier for you, I think, and the second task, which," he put his hand on the side of her face, "was absolutely terrifying for me, "she smiled and put her hand on his, "I think I can do this."

"I think you can too. I have such faith in you."

He took her hands in his.

"I love you."

He kissed her softly. She smiled.

"I love you too," she grinned as she kissed a trail down his neck.


	34. Chapter 34

A/N: So here we are, almost to the Third Task! This chapter, chapter 34, has the beginning of it, or rather, the set-up, and chapter 35 will have the task itself. I know you all will be furious with me by the end of the chapter. Or the beginning. Probably both. But I want to know if you're furious with me. So enjoy. Also, some of you may remember that I mentioned in chapter 16 that there was forshadowing to a later chapter. Well, that comes up again in this chapter. Let me know if you figure it out! You probably will, since it's kind of obvious. And please R&R.

* * *

Chapter 34:

Funny Spot for a Bruise

Disclaimer: All characters, with the exception of Celia and Mick, are the creation of J.K. Rowling or the creators of Lost.

The air buzzed with excitement and voices. All of a sudden, Harry and Cedric appeared out of nowhere, Harry clutching the cup. The crowd erupted into tumultuous applause and screams. They had won.

Celia pulled Aaron through the crowd to get down closer. Something felt odd, off. Cedric wasn't moving, and Harry was shaking. Dumbledore and the rest of the judges approached them. Dumbledore looked worried. Celia, still in the stands, could see Cedric's face.

Cedric Diggory was dead.

She realized someone was screaming. Then she realized that someone was her. Amos Diggory fought through the crowd to reach his son. Harry sobbed over Cedric's body, resisting Dumbledore from prying him away from him. Amos had reached Cedric. The rest of the crowd had become aware of what was going on. Amos sobbed over his son's figure, screaming "my boy." Celia had stopped screaming and was now clutching her brother. She pressed her face to his chest and sobbed into his shirt, clutching it so tightly the threads had begun to separate. Aaron stood there, dumbstruck. Mick, who, in his original excitement, had followed them down the stands, sunk down onto his haunches and buried his faces in his hands. Celia, sobbing increasingly harder, began to cough and wheeze. Her asthma attack steadily worsened until she felt as if she couldn't breathe.

- - - - - - - -

Celia woke up. The first thing she saw when she realized she was awake was the dark of her eyelids. She opened her eyes. The grey morning sun was filtering into the windows and the yellow hangings. Celia crawled out of bed and walked over to Hannah's four-poster and opened the hangings.

"Hannah?" Celia shook her sleeping friend's frame.

"What?"

"I had a bad dream."

Hannah opened her eyes and looked at her irritably.

"What, am I your mother? Are you seven? What the hell?"

"Hannah…"

"Fine."

Celia crawled onto Hannah's bed. Sitting on her knees, she sat near the foot of Hannah's bed.

"What's wrong?"

"I had a bad dream," Celia repeated quietly.

"Yes, I got that. What about?"

"I dreamt… that… during the third task… that Cedric… died."

"Oh, Celia," Hannah hugged her, "I'm so sorry, I'm sure that must have been awful."

Celia nodded into Hannah's shoulder.

"He'll be fine. I'm sure of it. He's so talented. And smart. He did absolutely smashing on the last two tasks. So don't worry about this. He'll do brilliantly. So don't worry, okay?"  
Celia nodded.

"Okay."

"Okay. Now get off my bed."

Celia managed to calm down before she headed to her finals. She saw Cedric at breakfast, which soothed her nerves some, but still had knots in her stomach as she and Hannah left for their class. Cedric, unsure about Celia's unusual silence during breakfast, was mulling over possible causes. He determined that it was her nervousness about the task when Professor McGonagall approached him.

"Mr. Diggory. The champions are meeting with their families to spend some time with them before the task this evening. If you will go right through that door where the champions first met after your name came out of the cup, your family will be waiting for you."

Cedric nodded.

"Yes, Professor."

"And," she added as an afterthought, grabbing his collar and tutting, "you might want to do something about _that _too."

"What?" Cedric inquired, confused.

"That… well… blemish on your neck. The hickey. It's rather unsightly."

Cedric blushed and pulled his collar up. Cedric walked to the room that McGonagall had directed him to. Inside the door, waiting for him, were his parents and Celia and Aaron's mother, Claire Pace. He pulled his collar up higher.

"Cedric! Congratulations, m'boy! I'm so proud of you!" his father cried, pulling him into a hug.

Cedric hugged his father, then hugged his mother and Claire.

"Mrs. Pace, what are you doing here?"

"Cedric, you're practically family. You've been one of Aaron's best mates since his first year, and you and Celia have been dating this whole year. Your parents asked me to come and of course I said yes. Charlie's just disappointed he couldn't come."

Cedric's mother had been smiling knowingly at her son. She glanced at Claire and smirked.

"So, how've you been?" his father asked.

"Fine."

"Spending a lot of time with Celia?" his mother smiled at him.

"We… yeah, I mean, we go to school together, we're in the same house and…"

"Share dormitories?" she remarked.

"Well, yeah, that too," Cedric blushed furiously.

Claire and Cedric's father caught on to what his mother had noticed.

"What's… what's that on your neck?" His mother asked. She licked her finger and attempted to scrub the bruise off.

"Ow, ow, its… it's just a bruise," Cedric shied away from his mother.

"A bruise?" she gasped, pretending to be surprised, "How'd you manage to get a bruise there?"

"Has Aaron been picking on you?" Celia's mother teased.

"It's a funny spot for a bruise," his father remarked.

"How did you get a bruise like that?" his mother asked.

"It's just a bruise, it happens," Cedric pulled up his collar.

Harry, Mrs. Weasley, and Bill Weasley walked past them.

"There you are, are you? Bet you're not feeling quite as full of yourself now Cedric's caught you up on points, are you?" Cedric's father asked smugly to Harry.

"What?" Harry responded.

"Ignore him," Cedric said in an undertone, "He's been angry ever since Rita Skeeter's article about the Triwizard Tournament – you know, when she made out you were the only Hogwarts champion."

"Didn't bother to correct her, though, did he?" his father asked, louder.

"Now Amos, you know Rita Skeeter makes things up. And I see no reason why we can't support two Hogwarts champions, now can't we?" Claire interjected, stepping in between Cedric's father and Harry, and placed a hand on Harry's arm, "my daughter speaks very highly of you."

"Your daughter?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she shook Harry's hand, "I'm Claire Pace. Celia and Aaron's mother."

The day continued without incident, as Cedric gave his parents and Celia's mother a tour of the grounds. The tour had concluded near Celia's classroom, so they waited for her to finish her final exam and walked down to lunch with her.

"So what have you been talking about?" Celia asked as they walked down the marble staircase.

"Oh, we've just been taking the hickey-" Claire began until she realized her Freudian slip, and the three adults burst out laughing, "Mickey. Taking the mickey out of Cedric," Claire snorted.

Celia smiled at Cedric, who gave her an exasperated look.

- - - - - - - -

The longhaired brunet man sat in a chair in his Scotland home, a copy of David Copperfield in his hands. He was just about to turn the page when he froze. Images flashed into his mind. An enormous maze. Two people, reaching out for the handles of a cup. A graveyard. A flash of green light; one of the boys flew backwards through the air, then fell lifeless on the ground. A cauldron, brimming with white foam. A tall, white, menacing figure rising out of the cauldron. A long slender, white finger. A second boy, screaming in pain.

Then the visions were over. What had he just seen? He reflected on this most recent premonition. That boy; the one who died. There was something hauntingly familiar about him. He looked so familiar, but he could not place where he had seen him. That handsome face, the grey eyes. The man's eyes grew wide; he jumped up and ran out of the room, leaving David Copperfield splayed on the floor. He raced into his study, where his wife was sitting at her desk. The man ran over to his, and began tearing through his things.

"Des?" the woman asked, alarmed by his fervor, "what's wrong?"

"Have to find… I have to find it," the man she addressed as "Des," muttered.

"Find what?" She rose and walked over to him, "Desmond," she gasped, "did you have another vision?"

After another minute of frantically tearing through his things, Desmond found his quarry. A letter. He quickly read through the letter, then continued to the second page. He sighed a little as he found the lines he was looking for.

_Celia is having a great year at school; she and Cedric have started dating. You remember him, Aaron's friend. Aaron of course is not too thrilled with it, but I think they look so sweet together. And all Hufflepuff house is just indescribable with all the excitement from the Triwizard Tournament. Of course, I suppose it's the tetrawizard tournament, since Harry Potter's name came out of the goblet. Anyway, I must be off, and we will see you and Penny for dinner next week._

_Much love,_

_Claire_

Desmond looked at the photo that had come with the letter. Celia was standing with the boy he had seen in the vision; his arm was around her. Desmond watched the magical photo as she reached off-camera to pull a tentative-looking Aaron into the frame and the three of them grinned into the camera, Aaron rather sheepishly.

- - - - - - - -

The phone rang. On the third ring, Charlie Pace picked up the phone.

"Hello?" he asked into the receiver.

"Charlie?" a gasping voice spoke into the phone.

"Desmond? How are you?" Charlie greeted jovially, misinterpreting the purpose of his call.

"Charlie… Cedric can't take the cup."

"What?" Charlie asked, perplexed.

"I had-" Desmond began.

"Wait, was this one of your visions?" Charlie asked, Desmond's friends were well-aware of his psychic premonitions.

"Yes. I saw a maze, and I saw him and another boy taking the handles to a cup, and then… I saw him die.

"That's… that's the third task," Charlie gasped, "That's today."

- - - - - - - -

At Hogwarts, Cedric was preparing himself to enter the maze. He had bid farewell to his parents and Claire Pace, and only Celia remained with him on the perimeter of the quidditch field a few paces away from the other champions. Cedric's jaw was set; his nerves were finally setting in. Celia gave him a soft kiss then smiled at him. She was as nervous as he was after her dream the previous night. His hardened expression softened.

"You'll do brilliantly."

Cedric entwined his hands with hers.

"I love you," he told her.

"I love you too. I have total confidence in you," she looked around at the judges, who looked almost ready to begin, "I have to go. But we'll celebrate when you win," she smiled.

Cedric laughed, disbelieving and nervous.

"I love you," she repeated to him.

His response was a tender kiss.

"I'll see you later," he said.


	35. Chapter 35

A/N: I'm so sorry that posting this chapter has been so slow, but honestly, I wanted to build up anticipation for this chapter! I hope you're all very excited to see how this chapter turns out! Enjoy, and please R&R.

Disclaimer: All characters, with the exception of Celia and Mick, are the creation of J.K. Rowling and the creators of Lost. Also, many of Dumbledore's lines, as well as the conversation between Harry and Cedric, are direct quotes from the book.

* * *

Chapter 35:

It's All Over Now

Celia returned to her friends in the stands. Her mother and Cedric's parents had gone to sit with the other parents in a special section of the judges' stand. She found her friends among the huge mass of yellow and scarlet that was the Hogwarts students. Hannah, Justin, Ernie, Mick, and her brother were in the densest mass of yellow, the Hufflepuff supporters.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Dumbledore's voice boomed above the noise, and the crowd fell silent, "the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place, with eighty-five points each – Mr. Cedric Diggory and Mr. Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School!" the noise rising from the Hogwarts section of the stands was deafening. "In second place, with eighty points – Mr. Viktor Krum, of the Durmstrang Institute! And in third place – Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!"

"So… on my whistle, Harry and Cedric!" Ludo Bagman boomed, "Three – two – one –"

The whistle blew, and Harry and Cedric rushed into the maze as the shouting erupted again.

One by one the champions were let into the maze. Finally they were all inside. There was nothing more Celia could do now but wait.

Cedric was alone. He and Harry had separated at a fork in the road several turns back, and the maze was dark except for the light from the quickly darkening sky and the light coming from the tip of his wand. He had yet to encounter anything, and that made him nervous. He reached a turn in the maze, and followed it.

Standing in the middle of the path impeding his progress, was an enormous Blast-Ended Skrewt. 10 feet long, its stinger was poised and pointed at him.

Cedric knew he could not turn back and retrace his steps, and there was no way around it.

"Shit."

The Skrewt advanced on him. It shot a huge blast of fire at him. He dived.

"Stupefy!" he cried. The spell rebounded off of the Skrewt's shiny, hard armor and whizzed past his head. The Skrewt advanced towards him, moving quickly for an animal of its size. Another burst of flame issued from its end. This time Cedric was not as lucky. It singed his right sleeve and burned his arm. Cedric let out a shout.

The Skrewt advanced on him again. Cedric had just enough time to dive under it. This seemed to confuse the Skrewt. It was not sure where he went, and stood stock-still.

Cedric knew he could not hex the Skrewt for fear of it collapsing on him. He seized a large nearby rock and hurled it in the opposite direction. The Skrewt took off. Cedric stood and ran down the path.

The path took him to the right, and soon almost ran headfirst into Harry.

"Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts! They're enormous – I only just got away!"

Cedric rushed past and hurried down another path.

He did not encounter anything else for a long while. Cedric ensured that he was completely alone, and sat down on the ground to try and mend his burn as best he could.

He found himself thinking of Celia. He knew she could fix this kind of burn. His adrenaline had kept his mind preoccupied, but now that he was quite alone, he had time to think. He hoped she was not worrying too much, especially since she could not see what was going on. However, he reflected, after what just happened, maybe that's a good thing.

He finished mending his arm to the best of his ability, and picked himself up off the ground. He followed the path until it bent again.

The ground looked destroyed. All down the pathway, until it curved left again several yards down, were large holes in the ground. Cedric shuddered at the idea that this had been done to their quidditch field and proceeded forward. He approached the nearest hole. His wand at the ready, he peered slowly into it.

Cedric let out a cry of surprise and pain as a small dwarf-like creature leapt out of the hole at him. The creature carried a small club, and began bludgeoning Cedric with it.

"Stupefy!" Cedric cried, and the creature fell to the ground. Cedric looked down at it and turned it over with his foot. He recognized it as a red cap, dwarfish creatures that inhabit blood-soaked battlefields. He found its presence rather foreboding.

Cedric heard them before he saw them. Loud yells seemed to surround him, and he looked up to see red caps pouring out of every hole in the ground and charging towards him.

"Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy!" he cried again and again. Many of the red caps nearest him fell, but there were just as many charging him. He beat them back as well as he could, but some reached him. They all had some manner of crude weapon, and began beating him with them. Cedric struggled with them, pushing them off while at the same time trying to hit the approaching ones with spells.

Over the red caps yelling, he heard a scream. The scream was distinctly human, and distinctly female.

"Fleur?" he yelled. The scream had sounded far away, and he was sure he would not have time to deal with the red caps, and reach her in time to help.

Cedric continued to try to subdue them, and eventually all of them lay crumpled on the ground. Cedric, badly bruised on his legs, stumbled forward, and followed the path left.

The path was, once again, clear. He ran for a long time, how long, he wasn't sure. He noticed a person ahead of him and slowed. It was Krum.

"Krum," Cedric panted, "haven't seen you yet."

Cedric made as if to pass him, but Krum raised his wand.

"Okay, Krum, let me pass," Cedric tried to brush past, but Krum pushed him back, hard. He raised his wand again.

"What are you doing? What the hell d'you think you're doing?"

"Crucio!" Krum yelled.

A horrendous pain ripped through Cedric. The air filled with his yells as he dropped to the ground. He was shaking violently and uncontrollably as the spell coursed through him.

All of a sudden the pain stopped. Cedric continued to shake. Someone behind Krum shouted something, Cedric wasn't sure what. Footsteps thudded past him. Finally Cedric stopped shaking. He lay there, panting hard, with his hands over his face.

"Are you alright?" Harry said above him. He grabbed Cedric's arm and helped pull him to his feet.

"Yeah," Cedric panted. "Yeah… I don't believe it… he just… he just attacked me."

Cedric was still shaking. He and Harry looked at Krum.

"I can't believe this… I thought he was all right," Harry said.

"So did I."

"Did you hear Fleur scream earlier?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. Do you think Krum got her too?"

"I don't know."

"Should we leave him here?" Cedric asked.

"No. I reckon we should send up red sparks. Someone'll come and collect him… otherwise he'll probably be eaten by a skrewt."

"He'd deserve it," Cedric muttered.

He raised his wand skyward and shot red sparks into the air, where they hovered and marked the spot where he lay.

"Well… I s'pose we'd better go on…" Cedric said.

"What? Oh… yeah… right…"

The two walked together for a while until they came to a divide in the maze and went different ways.

A burst of red sparks appeared over the maze.

"That's two down," Hannah whispered.

The period between the first appearance of the sparks and the announcement of the champion that was forced to retire was always nerve-wracking.

"Another champion has been forced to retire!" Dumbledore's voice boomed, "The Durmstrang champion is no longer in the race. This leaves the two Hogwarts champions competing against each other."

The Hogwarts students erupted into thunderous applause.

"Cedric could really win this thing!" Hannah screamed.

Cedric hurtled down the path. He could see the plinth the cup was supposed to be on.

But that was the problem.

The cup was supposed to be there, and it wasn't.

Cedric's running slowed as he approached the empty plinth. He reached it and stopped, breathing hard. Cedric sighed heavily.

_I suppose it's all over now_, he thought.

Cedric turned away from the plinth and made to find his way out of the maze. He heard a rustling noise coming from the side.

Red stars erupted once more above the maze. The Hogwarts students held their breath. The task could be over. One of their champions could no longer compete, and one of their champions would take the cup. All they had to do was wait for Dumbledore's announcement.

This one took the longest. The other two champions, Fleur and Krum, were sitting in the judges' tent, where they had been brought, shaken and bruised, after their elimination. The students strained to see who was joining them. Finally Dumbledore's voice rang out above the noise.

"Another champion has been forced to retire. Cedric Diggory," at this, the Hufflepuffs let out a huge groan, and the Gryffindors a cheer, "will no longer be able to participate in the task. This leaves one final champion in the maze."

The Hufflepuffs looked thoroughly defeated. They had been so sure of their champion.

"Hey. I'm sure he's fine," Aaron rubbed Celia's arm reassuringly.

But Cedric did not join the others in the judges' tent. Minutes passed, and he was still absent.

"He's… he's still not there. Do you think something really bad happened?" Celia asked the group.

"I'm sure he's fine," Hannah responded; her voice shook a little.

After sitting for a few more minutes and Cedric still failing to arrive in the judges tent, Celia stood up.

"I'm going to try to find out what happened," she announced.

"I'll come with you," Hannah stood immediately.

"Do you want us to come?" Ernie asked. The group hovered above their seats.

"No, I… I need to do this. You guys stay here. We'll be back," Celia said.

Celia and Hannah made their way down the stands. On their way they passed by Fred and George. George caught her elbow.

"What's up? Where are you going?" he asked.

"Cedric's not in the tent with the others. I think something is wrong."

George nodded.

"I'm… he'll be fine," Fred nodded, unsure.

Celia and Hannah wound through the stands. At last they reached the quidditch field, and they spotted the judges tent several yards away. As they approached it, McGonagall spotted them.

"Where are you two ladies going?" she asked.

"Is… is Cedric alright?" Celia asked nervously.

McGonagall pursed her lips. Her expression softened a little.

"Maybe… it's best if you come with me, Miss Pace," McGonagall gestured to follow her and started to walk off.

"Is he okay?" Celia chased after her, Hannah at her heels.

"He will be fine."

Celia stopped. She and Hannah exchanged looks, and quickly caught up with their professor.

Professor McGonagall led them to the castle and in the direction of the Hospital Wing. Celia and Hannah exchanged nervous glances.

They reached the Hospital Wing and Professor McGonagall stopped them outside.

"I believe his parents are in with him now. You might want to give them a little time with him."

McGonagall held open the door for the pair and let them walk inside.

Celia saw Mr. and Mrs. Diggory, seated on either side of his unconscious body. He lay on one of the hospital beds, with Madame Pomphrey tending busily to him.

The door shut, and the Diggory's looked up.

"Ah, Celia," Mrs. Diggory rose from her chair nearest Celia. Her eyes were red and damp, and as she walked over to Celia she wiped her eyes, "Come here," she pulled Celia into a tight hug, "how are you doing?"

"How is he? What happened? What's wrong?" Celia spilled all of her questions in a rush.

"Well," Mrs. Diggory held her a little farther away so she could look at her, "We don't know. Hagrid said it looked like he had been attacked by one of his acromantulas, but we don't know what's wrong. Madame Pomphrey said she would let us know once she's done taking care of everything."

Celia nodded.

"Come sit?" Mrs. Diggory asked.

Celia nodded again.

Celia and Hannah followed her to Cedric's bed, where she summoned two chairs for them. The four kept a silent vigil for several minutes before Madame Pomphrey straightened and pronounced that she had done all that could be done, and that, given time and a few days in the Hospital Wing, Cedric should be fine.

"Now, Mr. and Mrs. Diggory, may I speak to you two in private for a moment?"

"Yes, of course," Mr. Diggory said, and the two rose from their seats and followed Madame Pomphrey to her office.

Celia moved her chair nearer to Cedric's head and brushed the hair out of his eyes. Cedric was still unconscious.

The doors to the Hospital Wing slammed shut again. Celia and Hannah, startled, looked up. Fred and George were hovering awkwardly inside the door. Celia rose from her seat and walked over to them.

"What are you two doing here?" Celia asked.

"Well, you're our friend," Fred began.

"And we can't hold a grudge over a quidditch match forever," George picked up.

"And Harry's a big boy, if we're not in the stands when he gets out of the maze, we think he can handle it."

"So, we thought that… maybe we should… come up and…" Fred's voice trailed away.

Celia stared at them for a minute before bursting into tears. Fred and George gave each other concerned looks, unsure as to how to proceed. Celia grabbed Fred and wrapped her arms tightly around him, sobbing into his shoulder. His arms were pinned to his chest, so he could do nothing as she continued to cry. George patted her shoulder awkwardly.

"'Ey. What about me?" Cedric whispered hoarsely.

Celia rushed over to his bed.

"Cedric," she whispered.

"Hey," he whispered.

"How… how are you?" she asked.

"I hurt," Cedric nodded slowly.

Celia's eyes dampened. Cedric squeezed her hand.

"Don't cry. I'll be alright. Madame Pomphrey fixed me up nice. I'll be fine."

Celia brushed the hair out of Cedric's eyes.

"What're you guys doing here?" Cedric said, taking notice of Fred and George.

"Oh, well…" Fred mumbled.

"We were…" George put in.

"They're with me," Celia smiled at them.

"Right," Fred and George nodded.

They sat there for several silent minutes before Madame Pomphrey and Cedric's parents exited her office.

"Will he be okay?" Celia asked.

"Given time, he should be just fine," Madame Pomphrey said.

"Given time?" Celia asked.

"I've mended his burns, the bruises will heal soon, as will his leg. He had a small fracture from a fall he had sometime this evening, but that will be just fine. I've mended the arm the best I can. The thing is, acromantula venom is tricky. It makes healing very difficult, and it typically takes a long time. So he'll need some help for a while, as his arm will put him in a bit of pain for the next few weeks. Once the venom is out of his system, however, he should be as right as rain," Madame Pomphrey nodded, "I'll need to keep him in the Hospital Wing for a few days to keep him under observation and while his leg and arm heals. Then he'll be able to return to the dorms for the last few days before the end of term."

The doors crashed open again. A flurry of redheads rushed into the Hospital Wing and crowded around Madame Pomphrey. Mrs. Weasley, a young man who Celia assumed to be Ron's older brother, Ron, and Hermione flooded Madame Pomphrey with questions, which ran together and were unintelligible from one another. The general theme seemed to be the location of Harry. Why they were so concerned, Celia could not discern. Harry surely would be in the maze, if he had not returned with the cup already. Celia rose and walked over to them and placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder.

"Hermione, what's going on? Isn't Harry in the maze?" Celia asked.

"No, he-" Hermione began as she turned towards Celia.

The door hinges squealed as they opened once more. Everyone turned to the door and they stopped talking as soon as they saw who their newest addition was.

Harry, Dumbledore, and a large black dog stood in the doorway. Mrs. Weasley let out a small scream before rushing towards him.

"Molly, please listen to me for a moment. Harry has been through a terrible ordeal tonight. He has just had to relive it for me. What he needs now is sleep, and peace, and quiet. If he would like you all to stay with him, you may do so. But I do not want you questioning him until he is ready to answer, and certainly not this evening."  
Mrs. Weasley nodded.

"Did you hear? He needs quiet!" Mrs. Weasley hissed at her children.

"Hermione," Celia tried again to find out what had happened, "what's going on?"

Hermione pulled Celia away from the group.

"Harry came out of the maze a half-hour ago, clutching the cup. He said that… Voldemort had returned."


	36. Chapter 36

A/N: I am, once again, very sorry for the slowness in my posting. I do have a reason now though. It's May (or at least it was when I wrote this), which means that at my school, everything stops for all of the standardized testing. So I've been very busy. But now pretty much all of my testing is done, so I should be posting a lot (Actually, I'm done with school for the year, but I've just been really lazy.). Especially because I realized it's taken me three years to finish one year of the story, and I don't want to be doing this forever. So expect regular posts. Also, I've set up a facebook page for FarSideOfTheRoom. If you do the facebook thing, you should "like," it! Also, I have a twitter, and if you guys are interested in the mundane things I do and random updates on my stories, you should follow /ali_gator628. That's me! Just send me a message on here to let me know you read my stories so I don't accidentally block you. Now that I'm done plugging my websites, and I hope you haven't minded, please R&R and enjoy chapter 36!

Disclaimer: All characters, with the exception if Celia and Mick, are the creation of J.K. Rowling or the creators of Lost.

* * *

Chapter 36:

Worry About Hexing You

"Hey," Cedric whispered hoarsely to Celia.

It was late. How late, Celia wasn't sure, but past midnight. She and Cedric's parents had talked Madame Pomphrey down from insisting they spend the night in a bed, and were determined to spend the night in the Hospital Wing. Celia's mother had returned home to tell her father what had happened. Ernie, Justin, Susan, and Mick had all been up, and they, along with Hannah had long since retired to the Hufflepuff dormitories, wishing Cedric well. Fred and George had made sure that Celia was okay before checking on Harry. They had recently returned to the Gryffindor dormitory. Cho had turned up as well, but her attention was focused on Harry. Once the two girls had tended to their loved one, they had seen to each other, and wished the other and her boyfriend well.

"Yeah?" Celia whispered.

"It's fine that Harry won. I owed him way more anyway."

Celia furrowed her brows, "What do you mean?"

"Don't… promise me you won't freak out. Don't worry. It's okay. I'm okay. But… telling me about the dragons wasn't the only time he saved me."

"What?" Celia was confused.

"Tonight, in the maze, Harry… saved me."

"How?"

"Krum… attacked me."

"What?" Celia hissed.

"Don't worry! But, in the maze, he attacked me, and… used the cruciatus curse on me. I don't remember much about it, but I remember screaming, and then the pain stopped, and Harry helped me up, and I saw that he had stunned Krum. Harry… saved my life."

As Madame Pomphrey had predicted, Cedric spent the next several days in the Hospital Wing. Celia's exams had finished the day of the Third Task, and so she had plenty of free time to spend in the Hospital Wing with him. The continual presence of Ron, Hermione, Cho, and often the twins, kept Celia company for a few days, but after Harry was allowed to leave two days after being admitted, the overall noise level in the Hospital Wing decreased significantly. One Hufflepuff well-wisher or another was frequently found in the hospital, and one of Celia's friends, Aaron, and Mick were often found in some combination with her. After the third consecutive day of Celia spending several hours in the Hospital Wing with Cedric, he commented on it.

"It's a gorgeous day outside. Why are you still in this stuffy Hospital Wing with me?" he smiled at her.

"I don't want to leave you," she stroked his hand.

"You're done with exams, almost all of your friends are outside. It's so nice out. You should go be with them. I'm not going to heal any faster just because you're abstaining from having fun."

"I am having fun," she objected.

"How? How is this fun?" he grinned.

"I'm going to start thinking you want to get rid of me."

"I love having you here," he kissed her, "I really do. But half the time you're in here, I'm asleep, and the other half the time, I'm nearly always groggy with medication. I'm not exactly the life of the party. And you spend half your day in here! So go outside, see Hannah, make sure Mick isn't harassing Alex or something, but go do something fun."

"I don't know…"

"I'm going to sleep. I'm not going to be any fun. So go. Go do something fun. I'm sleeping now," he flopped down onto the pillow in an overly dramatic way and shut his eyes tight. She laughed. He kept his eyes shut tight for several seconds, before opening his right eye to see if she was still there. When he saw she was, he shut it again. He repeated this two more times before she sighed and kissed him.

"Oh, alright. What has gotten into you?" she laughed.

"Like I said, probably all the medication. Got me acting all funny."

She kissed him again, a longer kiss this time, and departed.

He kept up his campaign of "you need to get outside more," for the next two days. Each day she begrudgingly obeyed, and spent a little more time outside with her friends. The sixth day of his stay in the Hospital Wing, the day Cedric was scheduled to be released, a letter arrived from Celia's mother. Her mother's owl arrived with the rest of the post owls, and Celia, expecting nothing out of the ordinary, opened it.

Hannah had not seen her best friend all day. Or very much at all over the past week, for that matter. Celia had spent nearly all of her free time with Cedric in the Hospital Wing since the Third Task, and it was only at Cedric's prompting that she had spent more time outside the past two days. Celia had risen earlier than Hannah and the rest of their friends, in fact, earlier than most of the house, presumably to get an early start for the day. Hannah had finished breakfast without seeing Celia, and decided to visit the Hospital Wing to see if she was there. Upon arriving, she found Cedric by himself, who had said that Celia had not been in since she had visited him the night before. Very confused, she made her way back downstairs. She gave the dormitory a quick look-through, and upon looking over the grounds, found that she was not there either. Very confused, she stopped a couple of Hufflepuff first years that were heading for the grounds.

"Hey, have either of you seen Celia? Celia Pace? About my height, blonde, dating Cedric Diggory?" Hannah asked.

"Miss Pace?" one of them squeaked. Hannah sighed inwardly. A few of the first years had the annoying habit of addressing everyone older than them as "Miss," or "Mister." Apparently this was one of them.

"We saw her at breakfast. She looked kind of sad. She got a letter, and when she read it, she looked like she was really upset. Then she left," the other first year responded.

"Thanks," Hannah said, already walking away. She knew where she would find her.

She was right. She could almost hear her outside the door. Hannah had found her friend in the fifth floor girl's bathroom. Hannah rushed into the bathroom and found Celia sitting in one of the stalls, crying very hard. She hurried over to her and hugged her tight.

"Celia, Celia, hun, what's wrong?" Hannah cooed.

Celia continued to shake and sob into her friend's shoulder.

"Celia, I need to know what's wrong."

Celia wordlessly dropped a piece of paper. Hannah picked it up and began to read as her friend continued to shake.

_My dear Celia,_

_I hope you are well, and Cedric is too. Your father expressed great concern when I told him what had happened. Mrs. Diggory wrote soon after her visit with Madame Pomphrey to let us know that he will be all right. I trust you're taking good care of him._

_Now, your father and I debated heavily about whether or not we should tell you this, but we decided it was for the best that you knew. You may decide whether or not to tell Cedric._

_Your Uncle Desmond called shortly before the Third Task started. He had one of his visions._

_He says that had Cedric taken the cup, he would have died. Your Uncle Desmond saw You-Know-Who return. Whatever happened to Harry, Cedric would have been taken there too, only Cedric would not have been as fortunate as Harry was._

_I'm very sorry if this upsets you. But we felt you should know._

_Love,_

_Your Mother_

Celia arrived at the Hospital Wing late that afternoon. Cedric beamed at her when she arrived.

"Hey. I was starting to worry you were taking what I was saying about spending more time out of here too seriously," he grin barely concealed his concern.

"Sorry. I wasn't feeling well."

"So you decided to not come to the Hospital Wing?" he grinned.

She laughed.

"Yeah, I suppose that sounds silly. I'm really sorry I didn't make it in before."

"Especially since I get to leave today!" he looked very excited.

"Yeah," she said, taking her usual seat next to him, and looking at him seriously, "I love you."

"I love you. Are you sure you're okay?" he furrowed his brows.

"Yeah. I've just been worried, is all."

"Don't worry. I'm right here," he stroked her hand.

Cedric was released from the Hospital Wing later that day. The day afterward, Dumbledore presented the Triwizard Cup to Harry, in what, Celia was sure, was a more serious manner than what one would expect. Afterward, Dumbledore made a speech. He said that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had returned the night of the Third Task.

Desmond had been right.

The next few days were a combination of seriousness and laughter. The Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students were leaving, but they were finishing another year. Friends were separating for the summer, and others were making plans to see each other almost a week after they departed the Hogwarts Express. Inter-school couples were saying goodbye, and inter-school couples were exchanging very physical goodbyes. And still, hanging over them all, was Dumbledore's ominous statement, that You-Know-Who had returned.

The day the exchange students left was a particularly sad one for Celia's friends. She and Aaron were sure that they would see Alex soon, but they would miss her all the same. Mick and Alex had also become very close, which concerned Celia. Sarah and Aaron had promised to stay in touch, and Sarah was trying to hint to Aaron that she would like him to come visit her. Aaron was not getting the hint. Susan was exchanging very physical goodbyes with the boy from Durmstrang that she had gone to the Yule Ball with, and was being frequently reprimanded for it. His English had improved somewhat, and now Susan was almost certain that they were a couple. Almost.

The day after the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students had left, Celia found the opportunity to speak to Harry that she had been looking for. It seemed almost as if he had been avoiding her; he would not look at her at mealtimes, when they passed each other in the hall, he would hurry past, and when they accidentally caught each others eye, he looked away. This time, they were completely deserted in the Entrance Hall, save for a few Slytherins going to the dungeons, and Harry was certainly not going to talk to them.

"Harry?" Celia called.

"Yeah?" he turned around, not realizing who was calling him, "ah," he said, seeing her, "uh… hey… Celia."

"Harry, I want to talk to you," she said, walking over to him.

"Uh… right. Listen, I'm sorry about the result of the tournament, I just got to the cup before Cedric, I'm not better than him-"

"I'm glad you won," she cut across him.

"What?" Harry said, completely taken aback.

"I'm glad you won. Cedric… Cedric told me… you saved him."

"He… he did?"

"Yeah. And… if you hadn't gotten to the cup first, if he had, or something, then, he could have died. And you faced You-Know-Who. And you must have been so brave. So I'm glad you won."

Harry was not sure how to respond.

"Well… thanks."

"And thank you. For saving him. Twice."

"He would have… done the same for me."

Celia nodded.

"He would have. And I'm glad you saved him."

Celia hugged him tightly.

Everyone welcomed the end of term. Students poured out of the front doors with their luggage, owls hooting in their cages and cats mewing loudly. Celia and Cedric, now almost fully recovered, drug their things up the stairs from the basement and out to the grounds. People were moving slowly towards the Hogwarts Express. Finding an empty compartment, they deposited their things and tracked down the rest of their friends. With them, Hannah, Ernie, Justin, and Mick, it was a tight fit in the cabin, even more so when Aaron stopped by to visit. Cedric left the cabin periodically to see to his prefect duties, but returned for the final portion of the trip. When the train finally shuddered to a halt in Kings Cross, the group continued their conversations as they rose and pulled down their belongings and drug them onto the platform.

The group made plans for the summer as they searched for their parents, and, one by one, they separated. They hugged goodbye, and finally it was just Celia, Aaron, and Cedric left. They found their parents at the same time, as the Paces and the Diggorys had been conversing. Celia, Cedric, and Aaron made the rounds, hugging first their own parents, then each others. Claire Pace hugged Cedric as tightly has she had hugged her own children, then patted him on the cheek.

"Good to see you're alright," she smiled.

"Celia barely left my side until I got out of the Hospital Wing," Cedric smiled at her.

"She's a good girl, Ced," Amos Diggory smiled at her too. Celia blushed.

"Well, we were just talking about plans for the summer," Anne Diggory smiled at her son and the two young Paces, "Mr. and Mrs. Pace were gracious enough to invite us to their house for a few weeks this summer," she said, more so to Cedric, "and I'm sure this more than meets your approval," she smiled at them all.

"Really?" Celia turned to her parents. They nodded and smiled.

Celia and Cedric looked thrilled; Aaron however, looked a little dismayed.

"Great, another two weeks with these two together. Like I don't have to deal with them enough at school," he smirked, half joking, half serious.

"Of course, your father and I can't stay there the whole time, your father's got work, and your uncle needs help moving, so we'll be helping him with that. So the majority of the time it'll just be you at the Pace's, Ced," she smiled at her son, "so you'll have to be on your best behavior. I've also given Mrs. Pace permission to hex you if you get too out of hand," she laughed.

"It's Celia's Uncle Sawyer you've got to worry about hexing you," Claire laughed.

Cedric's smile faded very fast.


	37. Chapter 37

A/N: Sorry about the hiatus with Keeping Up the Pace… *cowers in fear* I've been really busy at school. I've just finished my freshman year at university, and I've been so busy that I haven't had time to update. But here it is, chapter 37. Please R&R. Thanks for sticking with me guys, you really are great readers.

Disclaimer: All characters, with the exception of Celia and Mick, are the creation of J.K. Rowling or the creators of Lost.

* * *

Cedric stood at the side of the Pace's backyard, hidden behind some brush. He could see Celia and Aaron, but they could not see him; Celia was in front of a large metal frame with netting along the back her back to Cedric, Aaron was 15 yards away, placing a black and white ball at his feet. Celia and Aaron, whose father was a muggle, had grown up experiencing muggle culture alongside the wizarding world; this included playing football in a league when they were children. Cedric had not seen Celia play football in years; since they had started dating, she had not permitted it, and before that, he only vaguely remembered watching her play. It was for this reason that when Claire, Celia and Aaron's mother, had informed Cedric that they were playing football in the backyard, that Cedric asked that she not announce his presence, and allow him to walk around back to watch them play. Aaron wound up for the kick and punted it to Celia's left. She reached out and caught it and started bouncing it on her knee.

"Come on, give me a challenge, Aaron!" she jeered.

"Good to see you're so modest, Ceel. But really, take some pride in your playing. Brag a little."

She grinned at him, dropped the ball, and kicked it back hard. He returned it, kicking hard, to her far right. She leapt and knocked it away with her hands.

"Wow," Cedric whispered. He had not realized she was good at football.

"That was a good save," Aaron said genuinely.

"Yeah, I'll say," Cedric said, stepping out from behind the bush.

Celia and Aaron whipped around, surprised. Celia's eyes were wide. Celia saw him and let out a little shriek, and her hands flew up to cover her red face.

"Cedric, what are you doing here? I look a mess!"

"Your family did invite me to stay the summer, remember?" Cedric said, crossing to them; he nodded to Aaron, "good summer so far?"

"Can't complain," Aaron smiled.

"Well, yeah, but… I didn't expect you till after dinner…" Celia looked around, looking for a way out of the conversation.

Cedric reached her and wrapped his arms around her. "But aren't you happy to see me?" he pouted.

"We… well… ye… yes… but I'm… my hair's a mess… and… I'm… sweaty…I…" Celia mumbled, rushing into the house.

"Congratulations," Aaron grinned, "I think you've managed to make her go completely stupid.

Later that night, Celia and Cedric were watching TV with Aaron when Cedric asked Celia a question.  
"Ceel, have you ever thought of trying out for keeper?"

"What, you mean quidditch?" Celia almost laughed.

"Yes, quidditch. Weathers finished 7th year this year, so we'll need to hold tryouts this year anyway. If you're half as good on a broom as you are on the ground, then you'll make an excellent keeper."

"No, I really don't think so," Celia scoffed.

"C'mon, you're an excellent football… keeper."

"They're called goalies."

"Right. And you said yourself that you knocked Aaron out with a bludger last summer," Cedric pressed.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"It's true. I had a knot on my head the size of a quaffle for week," Aaron interjected.

"Why are you so opposed to trying out?"

"I've never properly played quidditch. Sure, I play with Aaron and Alex, but never properly played."

"Please? Just try out?" he asked.

"If I say yes, will you quit bothering me?"

"Yes."  
"And will you have the rest of the team help to make the decision so, if by some freak occurrence, you choose me as keeper, people won't say that it's just because I'm your girlfriend?"

"Yes."

"Fine."

Despite the fact that her boyfriend was spending a sizable portion of the summer with her family, the summer was less enjoyable than Celia had expected it would be. Because of Cedric's strong desire to have Celia try out for quidditch keeper, and Aaron's apparent agreement with this decision, the pair spent a large amount of time making her practice. Celia supposed it was slightly her fault, as she had made Cedric agree to getting the rest of the team's consent on the new keeper, but that did not make her any less irritated with the constant training session.

The Pace house had, once again, become a thoroughfare for the Pace's friends and family, as it often did during the summer. Cedric met many of the people Celia talked about, as well as the family members that he had already met.

Celia's friend Alex from Beauxbatons arrived a few days after Cedric, and she moved into the spare guest room for the summer. Cedric remembered that this was tradition at the Pace household, as he remembered seeing her there when he spent two weeks at the Pace house the summer after his fourth year. However, he had been visiting as just Aaron's friend, not Celia's boyfriend as well.

Alex's mother, Danielle, stopped by frequently, not to check in on her daughter, but to visit with Charlie and Claire, Celia's parents. Cedric also met Celia and Aaron's godfather Hurley, a pleasant, heavyset man with long curly hair, who was quick to laugh and frequently used the word "dude."

There were also other faces that Cedric recognized; Celia's aunt Kate and uncle Jack visited as frequently as Hurley did. Cedric found them very pleasant as well; Kate was an Auror at the Ministry, and Jack was a Healer at St. Mungo's. They would arrive after they had both finished work, and would often help with dinner, and stay late into the night. Jack, who had played quidditch during his days at Hogwarts, sometimes gave tips when he saw them playing, and ran a drills with Celia on occasion. Less frequently visiting was Celia's uncle Sawyer, whom Cedric was still thoroughly intimidated of.

Cedric's parents stopped by on occasion, mostly for dinner. Cedric himself was there most every day, commuting over by apparition during the day, and leaving late into the evening.

The summer passed quickly, with days filled with quidditch and the occasional soccer game, which Cedric discovered he was not very good at, and nights filled with good food, lots of company, and loud conversations. A few times Celia and Alex managed to convince Cedric and Aaron to venture out of Didsbury, the suburb of Manchester in which the Paces lived, to the City of Manchester proper, to explore and so Cedric, being a pureblood, could see a bit of muggle culture.

Celia exchanged letters with many of her friends, Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors alike. Hannah was in Scotland with her family, Ernie and Justin were spending the summer at their houses, and Mick was spending his summer trying to pick up every girl he could in London. She didn't hear very much from Ron and Hermione; from what she gathered, they were spending the summer together somewhere, and were very busy a lot of the time. She hoped that because of this, they would take a break with their bickering. Celia was also in fairly frequent contact with Harry, who was hungry for information about what was occurring in the wizarding world. She also talked with Cho through Aaron, who received letters from her periodically throughout the summer.

Very quickly the summer was over, and Cedric was able to visit less and less often as he prepared for school. He had been made Head Boy, and his parents were more than thrilled, but this meant even less time that he could spend with Celia. Celia had not been made a prefect; Hannah was the female prefect in Hufflepuff. Celia was not disappointed; Hannah had always been much more of a stickler for rules than she had, and she thought Hannah deserved to be prefect.

On September 1st, the Paces loaded up Charlie's car with trunks, Aaron's owl's cage, and Celia's cat, and headed for King's Cross.


End file.
